When Naruto Met Sasuke
by mickeylover303
Summary: Collection of AU one-shots. 32. All I Need: "...the only thing he did was ask me to stay."
1. Give and Take

_"Did I ever tell you about the time your deceptively nice brother introduced me to his priceless sword collection?"_

...

**Give and Take**

"You're trying to send me to my death, aren't you," Naruto hisses while Sasuke tries to drag him by the elbow away from the bathroom. Blunt nails clawing at the doorframe unwillingly slip across the smooth surface in spite of the continuous protests from their owner.

"Shut up and be a man."

"I am," Naruto says, "because not going means being able to keep all the parts that make me a man. You know, all those parts you just so happen to like? I won't be a man anymore if I lose them. And then what are we supposed to do for our anniversary next week? Or later on tonight even?"

"One night," Sasuke says. He grits his teeth and manoeuvres Naruto down the hall and in front of the small TV appearing even smaller surrounded by various piles of books and folded clothes further crowding the already cramped apartment. "You promised me one night."

"Did I ever tell you about the time your deceptively nice brother introduced me to his priceless sword collection? Right after he found out we were dating? Well, when we went to Yamaguchi for your aunt's wedding, he showed me these pictures on his phone of that room in his condo, you know, the one with all those really, _really_ sharp and pointy things in all kinds of shapes and sizes that he said were even sharper and pointer than they appeared on the phone.

"At first I didn't believe him, because he tried to convince me his phone—the Docomo one that just came out that April, right—had a camera capability as good as my Nikon. A phone like that could never replace my baby, but let me tell you, those swords didn't look anything like the wooden one you used to hit me with in college."

"So he likes to collect swords." Sasuke reaches to undo Naruto's messy attempt at fixing his tie, lifting the collar of Naruto's white shirt and making a new knot. "Probably because he likes kendo, but that's nothing new. He's the one who sent me a new shinai when I told him your head broke the one that lasted me through high school."

"Of course he did. You volunteered me to be your practice dummy."

"That and I didn't want to forget my basic drills."

"That's the same thing you claimed then."

Sasuke shrugs. "You know Itachi taught me. That's why I still keep up with it on the side."

"Which is nice and all, but you're missing the point I'm trying to make here."

"Then make it."

"He's a ninth-dan, Sasuke."

"I know. What about it?"

"A ninth-dan." At Sasuke's continued silence, Naruto glares at him with an irritated huff. "They don't even award that grade anymore. And all those trophies Itachi has, they're sitting around _not_ collecting dust for good rea—"

"Hold still."

"Th—that's too...tight."

Sasuke licks the corner of his mouth and knocks away the hand Naruto begins to raise to pull on the tie. "I don't see what my brother's accomplishments in kendo have to do with anything."

"Did I already mention that extremely sharp and pointy sword collection he has?" Naruto wheezes at the already constraining fabric being adjusted around his neck before Sasuke finally decides to loosen it a bit. "Because if I didn't, I'll be more than happy to tell you exactly what he told me about—"

"I have dinner with your parents sometimes. Why does it always have to be such a hassle to get you to have dinner with mine?"

"Uh, maybe I should bring up the fact that my parents actually _liked_ you the first time they met you?"

"Was that before or after you left me alone at your house, with a group of complete strangers that happened to be half of your family tree?" Sasuke says. "Since, despite all the instant ramen your mom strangely keeps stocked, you just had to go to the only convenience store open after ten—on the other side of the prefecture—to satisfy your craving for a packet of freeze-dried beef flavouring because you didn't want chicken or miso."

Glancing to the side, Naruto gives a nervous laugh. "Okay, so let's not bring that back up, but still, I mean, does it really make me a coward if I say I'm not so confident about running into your mom and dad again?" After a moment, he adds, "Especially when it involves your brother."

"Yes."

"_Sasuke_."

"Naruto."

"_Sa_-_suke_."

"There's nothing wrong with my parents. Or my brother."

"No, it's just me they see as the problem."

Sasuke lets one hand fall to his side and runs the other through his hair. "They're my family, Naruto. If nothing else, I expect you to respect that."

"I do. Really, I do, except it's..." Naruto sighs. He pushes his tongue against the back of his front teeth, placing his chin on Sasuke's shoulder. "It's hard to keep it up when it feels like they don't think I'm good enough for you."

"I think you're good enough for me. That's all that should matter."

"Easier said than done when it's not just the two of us."

"If you don't think you're good enough for me by now, leave half the rent here and take the rest of your crap out the door."

Naruto lifts his head and stares at Sasuke with wide eyes. "B-but, Sasuke, I...I have to wear a tie."

"Stop complaining. I don't like wearing ties, either, but you can take it off on the way back home."

Naruto makes an exaggerated moan. "Didn't you say this was supposed to be casual?"

"It is."

"You're making me wear a jacket and a stiff shirt and a tie."

"I'm letting you wear jeans."

"At one of the most expensive restaurants in Narita?" Naruto shakes his head. "We can barely afford an apartment this close to the city as it is."

"You'll live."

"The scraps off the floor are probably worth more than half my paycheck. How the hell do you consider that kind of environment casual?"

"It's casual for me," Sasuke murmurs, focusing on straightening the lapels of Naruto's light grey jacket that don't require any more attention. "I just wanted to..."

"Sasuke, I...I know. I didn't—"

"Besides, you're not paying."

"Yeah." Naruto snorts. "Like that makes me feel any better. I still couldn't afford it even if I wanted to. And that's _only_ if the five of us share an appetizer, so it's kind of a blow to my self-esteem, all right. Go easy on me."

"Then consider this retribution for standing me up at the train station."

"Don't tell me you're still not over that."

When Sasuke refuses to speak, Naruto presses his lips together, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke.

"I can't believe you're still not over that, Sasuke. It happened what—two years ago?"

Taking a step back, Sasuke assess Naruto from the bottom up, finishing with a pointed look that eventually reaches Naruto's gaze.

"Right." Naruto rolls his eyes. "I forgot how long you can hold grudges."

Fingers gripping the once immaculately placed tie, Sasuke yanks Naruto forward. "I don't hold grudges."

"Sure you don't."

A frown tugs at the corner of Sasuke's mouth. "I don't."

"Uh-huh, yeah, okay, but you can't say I didn't know how to make up for it." There's a teasing glint in Naruto's gaze that develops into something more sly. "You weren't complaining when we—"

"Finish that sentence."

"It's kind of cute, though," Naruto says, with a slight tilt of his head. "You being upset because you thought I stood you up on our first real, official date."

"Because only a moron like you would walk around with a phone you don't charge and then get lost on the Samatsu Line."

"I found you eventually, didn't I?"

"But I didn't know then, so what was I supposed to think?"

"See? Even now you're being all sentimental about it."

Sasuke smirks. He releases his hold on Naruto's tie then neatly arranges the tie and shirt to make them look presentable. "Sentimental, huh?"

"Yeah." Naruto nods with a grin pressed against Sasuke's cheek. "In a completely Sasuke way, of course."

Sasuke pulls back. He watches Naruto with eyes a little more open, the beginning traces of a smile replacing his characteristic smirk making sharp features just a little bit softer.

Until his expression shifts into something decidedly uninviting.

"Make sure you have everything so we can go. Itachi's flight should be landing soon. You need to be at the airport before the plane."

The colour drains from Naruto's face. "You didn't say anything about meeting Itachi at the airport. I thought we were going straight to the restaurant? Aren't your parents staying in a hotel—the same hotel Itachi's supposed to already have checked in earlier?"

"His plane was delayed."

"And you didn't think this was something you could have shared beforehand?"

Sasuke makes his way towards the middle of the room. Slowly, he leans down without bending his knees to grab a set of keys and Naruto's phone lying on the low coffee table. "Didn't see a need to."

Despite himself, Naruto's mouth begins to form another grin. "You're a vindictive bastard when you want to be, you know that?"

Sasuke hums absently in agreement. "That's why you're going alone."

And then Naruto's grin falters. "W-what?"

"I'm going to pick up my parents while you pick up Itachi. It's after five already, and our reservations are for seven, so you'll have to meet us there."

"You want me to go to the airport alone? To pick up Itachi? By myself? Alone?"

"He suggested it. Not me."

"And where was I in this decision?"

"Sleeping."

Naruto ends his spluttering with a squeak Sasuke ignores.

Keys hidden in the palm of his hand, he turns back to face Naruto. He leans forward with his mouth almost brushing over Naruto's bottom lip. "You better hurry if you're going to make the 5:23 train."

"...the train? Why are you sending me alone in that kind of confined space with Itachi?"

"Because unlike our parents, my brother doesn't mind taking the train." An arm goes around Naruto's waist, and Sasuke slides the hand holding Naruto's phone in the back pocket of dark jeans. He slips his hand out, leaving the phone inside the pocket and looking more than just a little pleased when he feels Naruto swallow the lump in his throat.

"Just think of it as incentive not to get lost this time."


	2. One Step Behind You

_I told myself I wouldn't do it, but I guess I'm doing it. Continuing in the same AU as Give and Take, because Naruto and Sasuke in this world, I want them to be silly and ridiculous, which is kind of fun. Random snippets, if you will. It's been a while, so I'll just leave it at that._

_..._

_ "The seeds don't really make the peppers hot. It's the inner wall and the veins. I left those in."_

...

**One Step Behind You**

"Here."

Closing the physics textbook on his lap, Naruto swings one arm over the back of the couch, crossing his legs and peering at Sasuke from beneath a pair of rimless glasses. "Hey, you're finally using that utensil set I bought you."

Sasuke pretends not to see the grin quick to form on Naruto's face. His hand hovers beneath a wooden spoon filled with small pieces of meat and vegetables floating in a yellowish broth he holds towards Naruto's mouth. "Try this."

"...what's in it?"

"Food," Sasuke says, voice wry. "Try it."

"It's not that I don't like your food," Naruto says, eyes fixed on the spoon looming precariously closer and closer to his lips pressed tightly together. "Sometimes."

The expression on his face is not at all wary, the flicker of fear barely even noticeable, or so he'd like to think, but when he draws his head back just the slightest bit, it's still just enough to make Sasuke frown.

Then, following a particularly long pause, he adds, "Most of the time."

Grip on the spoon tightening, the broth almost spilling on Naruto, Sasuke glares.

"What? It's true. Don't get mad at me because you're not perfect at everything. Not my fault you can't always—"

Slowly, Sasuke pulls out the spoon he slid into Naruto's mouth. He places one arm across his torso, his other hand brandishing the now somewhat clean spoon. "So?"

"It's..." Taking a cautious swallow, Naruto says, "It's good. Really good."

"Don't sound so surprised."

"I'm not. It's just that I don't always know what to expect from you." Licking his front teeth, Naruto drapes his arms over the back of the couch, leaning closer to Sasuke. "What is it exactly?"

"Some chicken soup recipe your mom sent me," Sasuke says, biting down on his lower lip. "Ajiaco. I think."

"Ah."

Sasuke nods absently. "She said she chased down some street vendor in Bogotá to get it. And then your dad had to bribe the guy with their travel money so he wouldn't report them to the local authorities."

"Hm. I forgot they went to Colombia to work on that article. Sounds like something my mom'd do, though," Naruto says. "You know I think it's weird how you two keep in touch like that, right? I guess I should be glad she likes you so much, but still, I—"

Suddenly, Naruto goes rigid. His lips begin to tremble. His eyes start to water. His ears turn a bright red that spreads to the entirety of his face, eventually reaching his throat covered by both hands.

"What?"

A dry rasp is Naruto's only response.

"It's the tomatoes, isn't it. Do they make it too sweet?" Sasuke licks the back of the spoon, unfazed by the loud thud when Naruto tumbles off the couch, since, apparently, Naruto still had the sense to take off his glasses before landing on the floor.

"I wanted to use Roma," Sasuke says, "but I couldn't find any that looked appealing this far out of season. The grape tomatoes didn't look that much better, but the hybrid ones, even though I never liked those as much, they looked the best."

"Can't," Naruto wheezes, slowly raising an arm that quickly falls," ...bre—breathe."

"Or is it the cumin?" Sasuke glances at Naruto, narrowing his eyes at the figure rolling around and gasping on the floor.

He tilts his head to the side in thought. "I don't really care for it, either, but I wanted to try to make something more authentic—as much as I could being in Japan. Maybe. Not that the recipe called for that much cumin."

"You know it's not any damn cumin, Sasuke. The hell's in that soup making it so hot_?_!"

"Habanero peppers."

"You used the seeds?" Breathing hard, with a hand gripping the arm of the couch, Naruto picks himself up from the floor. The glare he tries to give Sasuke all but wavers. "Didn't my mom translate the recipe for you? Because I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to use the seeds!"

"No, I took those out."

"Do you not see me dying over here? Do you even care?"

"The seeds don't really make the peppers hot. It's the inner wall and the veins. I left those in."

"You don't care, do you."

"You like my spicy tofu," Sasuke says, brow knitted and fingers holding the spoon loosening. "How is this any different?"

"Well, we all can't not have taste buds, can we?" Naruto hisses, but he's already up and running towards the small kitchen area, dodging a pile of his own clothes he nearly trips over on the way.

Grudgingly, maybe even driven by a sizeable amount of guilt he won't acknowledge, Sasuke follows, led to Naruto by the sound of running water.

He raises an eyebrow at the sight of Naruto's head in the sink, mouth poised directly under the water surging from the faucet.

"Water won't do much." The spoon in Sasuke's hand is dropped into the sink, narrowly avoiding Naruto when Naruto jerks from beneath the faucet to avoid being hit. "Milk's better."

The stream of curses that follows is garbled by the large mouthful of water Naruto gulps down. Sasuke, of course, again, ignores this, instead reaching for a small spoon from the drawer he pulls out behind him.

With another glare, interrupted by another wheeze, Naruto darts to the mini refrigerator. He throws the door open and falls to his knees, rummaging through empty juice and water bottles and containers of leftovers possibly on the verge of growing mould.

"Don't tell me—"

"We're out of milk," Sasuke says, kneeling beside Naruto and reaching behind him to the freezer for a small litre of mint chip ice cream less than half full. He removes the lid and dips the spoon inside, then places the carton on the floor.

"Are you punishing me?" Naruto fans his mouth gaping with both hands. "What'd I ever do to you to deserve something like this?"

"You're such a baby—come here." Sasuke smacks away Naruto's flailing arms. He holds Naruto's head steady with a hand firm on his chin and shoves the spoonful of ice cream into Naruto's mouth.

Predictably, it doesn't take Naruto long to calm down. His eyes close. His breathing finally slows. His body begins to relax. But then he stills. And he opens his eyes almost comically wide.

"One more."

Lips pursed, Sasuke watches while the spoon is snatched from his hand. Naruto picks up the carton from the floor and scrapes at the remaining ice cream. He stuffs his mouth with a considerably large spoonful, freezes for another moment, then sighs and extends his legs in a languid stretch.

He leans against Sasuke's side, propped up by the wall behind his back, hand letting go of the spoon that falls to his lap.

With a snort, Sasuke throws the empty litre of ice cream into the trash bin, nudging closed the door to the fridge with his foot. "Better?"

The third attempt at a glare Naruto aims at Sasuke turns out more akin to a pout when coupled with the sulk of Naruto's shoulders.

"You know," he says, "I'm actually starting to think that if I didn't already know how much you like me—like _really_ like me—your cooking probably would have killed me a long time ago."

Sasuke kind of blushes, except—according to what he constantly tells Naruto—doesn't, although he still tries to detract from the pale flush on both cheeks with a sneer rendered completely useless as he licks his thumb and wipes the ice cream trailing from the corner of Naruto's mouth.

"Shut up."


	3. Spell Me, You, Add the Two

_There's a fine line between self-indulgence and blatant disregard of characterisation. I crossed it._

_All things considered, that moment mentioned in Give and Take when Sasuke is introduced to Naruto's family, I guess it could have turned out worse. But I won't apologise for this Sakura and Ino. I had too much fun with Sakura's reaction to Sasuke and writing Ino as a little Naruto-in-the-making._

_..._

_"If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?" _

...

**Spell Me, You, Add the Two**

"We're already here. Kind of pointless to back out now."

"I'm not backing out on anything," Sasuke says, frowning. "I'm only saying we should have called ahead."

"Nah." Naruto gives a slow wave of his hand. He grins beneath the light at the door. "My family likes surprises. Especially on weekends. It's fine."

Sasuke checks his phone for a third time. "It's too late for this kind of visit."

"Relax. I already said it was fine, didn't I?" Naruto knocks on the door three times, pauses then knocks again two more times.

"Don't you have a key?"

"Yeah, but trust me," Naruto says, "this is more fun."

"I'll get it!" comes a muffled yell from inside the house. There's a soft padding of footsteps before the door opens to reveal a little girl with pale blonde hair pulled back into a long ponytail.

"Who'd come around here so la—Naruto!"

"You say it like you were expecting someone else," Naruto says, feigning a short-lived disappointment that's replaced with a wide smile.

"Really?" The girl stands akimbo with her head tilted to the side, wearing a smile just as wide as Naruto's. "You haven't come by to see us in months, and that's the best you can do?"

Naruto chuckles. "Where're mom and dad?"

"In the office with Tsunade and Jiraiya."

"The old hag and the pervert are here? Really?"

Sasuke looks at Naruto.

"Aunt and uncle. But those names just kind of stuck after a while. More fitting, too. You'll understand when you meet them."

Taking her hands off her hips, the girl hums, nodding in agreement. Her gaze turns towards Sasuke, eyes widening. "Hey, who's—"

"Naruto's here?" There's a second cry from within the house, looming closer with the sound of light and hurried footfalls.

Another little girl tumbles straight into the back of first girl, short pink hair hiding the face pressed against the blonde girl's shoulder.

She straightens and murmurs a quick apology to the blonde girl before pursing her lips at Naruto. "You're so mean to always keep doing this to us, Naruto. Coming home without letting anybody know."

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

"_Naru—_" the second girl begins, voice inured and far too admonishing for someone who looks her age, but she falters when she takes notice of Sasuke, eyes large and mouth slightly ajar.

She doesn't stop staring.

Sasuke stiffens, then tries to step back, but Naruto keeps him from making any progress with a hold on his arm.

"You guys remember my friend from school I told you about before?" Naruto says. "This is Sasuke."

The hand around his arm pulls Sasuke forward.

"Sasuke, these are my sisters."

"Hi, Sasuke, I'm Ino," the blonde girl says. She smirks with an elbow settled on her sister's shoulder. "And this is Sakura. Say hi to Sasuke, Forehead."

Naruto releasing his arm, Sasuke schools his features and gives a slight nod of his head. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, Sasuke, it's, um," Sakura stammers, a layer of pink dusted across her cheeks, "it's nice to—to meet you...meet you, too."

Ino laughs. "Forehead's got a crush."

"Quiet, Ino." Gaze down, Sakura blushes even further, digging the toe of her My Melody slippers into the floor and playing with the hem of her light blue shorts.

"So you and Naruto go to the same school. Are you a third-year like him?" Ino doesn't wait for Sasuke to answer as she turns from him to squint at Naruto. "How come you never brought him over before, huh?"

With a playful growl, Naruto reaches with both hands to tickle Ino's sides. "Maybe because I knew a little brat like you would probably scare him off."

"Naruto!" Ino giggles, making a half-hearted attempt to push Naruto's hands away.

Sakura finally looks up, pushing hair strayed in front of her face behind her ear. "...Sasuke, are you," she says, "are you an idol?"

Sasuke coughs, almost chokes at the words, and Naruto starts to snicker until Sasuke quiets him with a none too gentle nudge from an elbow in Naruto's side.

"Come on, Forehead," Ino says, fingers around Sakura's wrist dragging her away from Sasuke and Naruto. "Mom, Naruto's here!" she calls out, then lowers her voice, "close your mouth before you catch flies, Sakura. It's not attractive."

They disappear down a relatively short hallway, speaking in hushed whispers as Naruto steps into the foyer area, pulling a rigid Sasuke alongside him.

"You didn't tell me you had sisters."

"And somehow this still doesn't compare to how I felt after meeting your brother."

For now, Sasuke ignores the barb. "You have sisters."

"Yeah." Naruto laughs at the pinched expression on Sasuke's face. "I know it's obvious we don't really look alike. That's because we adopted them, but they're still my sisters, you know."

"No, it's not that. Sakura, she..."

"What can I say?" Naruto winks. "We have the same tastes."

"I'm twenty-one," Sasuke says. "Sakura looks like she's twelve."

"That's because she is twelve. Ino is, too."

There's a tic above Sasuke's right eye. "Twelve, Naruto."

"Give them a break. You know how girls are at that age. And then someone like _you_ shows up at the door." Naruto says , taking his shoes off by the door. He wriggles his eyebrows. "Now hurry up so I can show you my old room."

Sasuke rolls his eyes but follows, taking off his shoes and placing them beside Naruto's.

"I'm home, everybody!"

Wincing at the proximity of Naruto's voice, Sasuke follows him into the kitchen, where Naruto heads straight for the cabinet above the refrigerator. He can only stare when Naruto throws the door wide open.

"Is that..."

"A cabinet full of the best brand of instant ramen this side of Chiba?" Naruto grins at Sasuke. "Yeah."

Sasuke sighs, feels a little part of himself die while he watches Naruto dig around in the cabinet.

He looks away as Ino and Sakura slip into the kitchen. Sakura takes a seat on the stool at the counter, and Ino tries not to smile with her lips pressed together as she stands conspicuously close to Sasuke.

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Your hair looks so different. I've never seen anything like it up close because they don't let us do that sort of thing in school. Can I touch it?"

However, before Sasuke has the chance to say no, Ino's already standing on the toes of her Badtz-Maru slippers reaching for his hair.

Naruto pokes his head into the cabinet. "Mom, I brought a friend from school—where's all the beef ramen!"

"Sakura, come touch Sasuke's hair."

"I'm not touching Sasuke's hair, Ino."

"No, really, it's soft. The kind of soft I could play in all day if Sasuke'd let me. And you'd let me, wouldn't you, Sasuke?" Ino says. "If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?"

There's a choked noise from inside the cabinet. "I never said—"

"Hear that, Sakura? We can keep Sasuke."

"_Ino_!"

With a sigh painstakingly drawn out, Ino reluctantly lets go of Sasuke's hair. "If only you'd given me a few more years. But then Naruto had to—"

"You shouldn't be so bold, Ino," Sakura says, tries to whisper even though Sasuke's more than close enough to hear. She reaches over an empty stool to tap Ino on the arm. "What if you really do scare him away?"

"Hey—if you can't confess to the guy you like, someone else will."

"Why do you have to act like such a pig?" From Ino, Sakura looks to Sasuke then quickly looks away. She shakes her head and covers her flushed face with both hands. "Please, _please_ don't listen to her."

Sasuke doesn't. He glances at the door, wonders if it's too late to go back to their apartment, but then Naruto turns back around to look at him with one of those easygoing kinds of smiles and inadvertently forces Sasuke to remember why he let Naruto drag him all the way to Mobara at all.

"See? Told you they'd like you."

From further inside the house comes a woman's voice with a shrillness to rival Naruto's own. "Welcome home, Naruto!"

Sasuke cringes.

"We're out of beef ramen—sorry, honey!"

"What happened to all the beef ramen?" Eyes wide, Naruto closes the cabinet door. "Why's all the beef ramen gone?"

"Ino ate it."

Ino shuffles in the stool beside Sakura. "Not being able to keep your mouth shut isn't very becoming, Forehead."

"Ino, you...you ate all the beef ramen?"

"What?" Ino crosses her arms, turning up her nose at Naruto's disbelief. "It's not like you're ever here to eat it anyway."

At that, Naruto's face softens, the corner of his mouth turned down. "Ino..."

Uncrossing her arms, Ino waves away his concern. "Whatever."

Naruto snorts and reaches a hand to ruffle her hair. He grins. "You're such a brat, you know."

"S-stop that." Ino pushes away Naruto's hand. "Go buy some later if it's that big of a deal. Just make sure you buy enough for me, too."

"Sure, kid." He brightens when a woman with long red hair enters the kitchen. "Hey, mom," he says softly, walking towards her and leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Fond, maybe even somewhat wistful, she says, "And to think I used to be able to do that to you."

"Not for a while now, though, right," Naruto says, smiling back at her. "Oh—hey, I want you to meet a friend of mine from school." He turns back to stand beside Sasuke.

"Mom, meet Uchiha Sasuke," he says, placing an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and gently squeezing. "Sasuke, this is my mom."

Sasuke quickly removes Naruto's arm. Back straight, he places his hands at his sides, bowing at the waist towards Naruto's mom. "Thank you for having us on such short notice. Please forgive us for the unexpected intrusion."

"Oh, wow," she says, a hand covering her mouth, "I wasn't expecting one of Naruto's friends to be so polite."

Sasuke blinks, looks up from the hair fallen over his face. "Is that not..."

"You weren't that nice to me when we first met," Naruto grumbles, then gives a strangled cry of pain no one else seems to notice when Sasuke kicks him in the shin.

"Oh no," Ino says, "it's just kind of surprising Naruto would even know someone like you, much less ever bring you home. Since none of us really speaks like that around here. Even Sakura. Don't let that sweet face fool you. You should hear her when she—"

"_Ino_."

"Uzumaki Kushina." With her hands clasped in front of her, Naruto's mom returns Sasuke's bow. "Welcome to our home. It's a pleasure to have you, Uchiha Sasuke."

Suddenly, the kitchen becomes quiet, and Sasuke straightens to look for the source of unease.

Ino and Sakura are frozen in their seats, both sharing looks of scandalised horror.

The cup of ramen Naruto picked up from the counter nearly drops from his hand, but the act is too sacrilegious for him to actually let it fall. "Mom, you just..."

Kushina only tilts her head with a glee poorly disguised. "Is it so upsetting a display to see your mom behave in such a fashion?"

There's a chorus of yes from Naruto, Ino, and Sakura, but it's not until later Sasuke will come to understand through many, many occasions just how much someone like Naruto takes after his mother.

"It's really not a problem, Sasuke," Kushina says with a kind smile. "Naruto does this to us all the time. It's almost expected, really. Don't feel as if you have to appear so polite for our sakes, though, okay."

"And you felt the sudden need to?" Naruto says, then to Sasuke with a hand over the side of his mouth, "I guarantee you she doesn't regularly do this kind of thing."

"Hardly ever," Ino says.

Sakura agrees with a firm nod.

"There's a reason I tell your dad you three take after him more than me. Speaking of which," Kushina says, placing a finger on her cheek as she turns to Naruto, "it was your dad's turn to resupply the cabinet. I admit I feel Ino tries too hard to take your place some days—"

"_Mom_."

"—but we weren't really expecting you, Naruto. Sorry about the beef, but there's still chicken and miso and pork and—"

"But eating a bowl of beef ramen is a coming-home tradition."

"You only started doing it last year," Sakura says.

"Still," Naruto says, "I—hey, Sasuke. You still have my wallet?"

"Yeah." Sasuke frowns but reaches in the back pocket of his jeans for Naruto's wallet. "What for?"

"Thanks." Naruto takes the wallet from Sasuke. "I'll be back."

"Wait." When Naruto turns away, Sasuke grabs his hand. "What're you doing?"

"Going to get some beef ramen." Naruto blinks. "What else?"

"What else?"

"Relax," Naruto says, leaning closer to whisper in Sasuke's ear. "I told you my family's nice. You'll be fi—"

"The hell you're leaving me here alone for some beef ramen," Sasuke hisses.

"But it's not just any kind of beef ramen." Naruto winces, tries and fails to wrench himself away from Sasuke squeezing the life out of his hand. "They only sell this brand in Mobara, and I've been craving it since you agreed to come here with me."

Sasuke still doesn't let go of Naruto's hand.

"It's okay, Sasuke," he says, so seriously, so earnestly, and Sasuke's just as compelled to knock the reassuring look off Naruto's face because of it. "I'll be right back. I promise."

He tightens his grip on Naruto's hand instead.

It has to fall off eventually.

"Really," Naruto says, "it'll just be a quick run across town."

"A quick run across—"

Then Naruto leans over to press a grin against the corner of Sasuke's mouth, and the fingers threatening to cut off the circulation to Naruto's hand unwillingly let go.

"Ino and Sakura," he calls out from the foyer, stuffing his feet into his shoes, "take care of Sasuke until I get back, all right."

"Naru—"

But Naruto's already out the door.

Jumping down from the stool, Ino reaches to grab Sasuke's left arm with both hands while Sakura does the same with his right.

"Come on, Sasuke," Ino says, "you can watch Nodame Cantabile with us. It's really good."

"We'll take care of you until Naruto gets back," Sakura says.

"You can even sit next to me, okay."

A series of tugs on both arms causes Sasuke to turn around, where he's met with an audience increased by three unfamiliar faces.

Leaning against the counter is a man that could almost be mistaken for Naruto, with the same kind of easygoing smile and amused glint in his eyes.

By process of elimination, the woman and man standing beside Kushina must be Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Sasuke tries to smile, tries not to relay his discomfort at the fact he'd been too engrossed in his conversation with Naruto to really notice anyone else, but there's a sinking feeling the attempt probably doesn't make him look anything other than constipated.

"So," Tsunade says, smirks while Jiraiya grins, and Sasuke stares straight ahead to keep his eyes above Tsunade's chest, "how long have you been seeing the brat?"


	4. Just a Notion of You

_This turned into some sappy dribble, but it is what it is. A few quick things: Tama is a university; Mosu refers to MOS Burger, a fast-food chain, as is Sukiya; Nozomi is a model; Takeru is an actor; Doraemon is a significantly popular children's manga/series; and Illjimae is a Korean historical drama set during the Joseon Dynasty._

_..._

_"You can be so stupid sometimes."_

...

**Just a Notion of You**

It still has that new kind of old apartment smell, because it's in one of those older buildings new to them that makes living so close to the city actually seem affordable even though it's really not.

Or maybe it's from the pork ramen he spilled on the floor Naruto can still kind of smell two days later.

Sasuke almost kicked him out of the apartment they'd just moved in for that one, although it's not Naruto's fault if he found the sight of Sasuke bending over to pick up that box with all his paint supplies particularly distracting.

It was careless of Sasuke, really, like too many of the things Sasuke does just happen to be, but Naruto just resigned himself to cleaning up the mess then settled back on the floor with his legs folded beneath him to peer into the jumbo-sized instant cup ramen in hand his second attempt to eat the breakfast he didn't mean to skip.

Yet even doing that was wrong according to Sasuke, who claimed returning the truck before noon to cut down on the rental fee was more important than Naruto's feeble stomach pains.

He'd already been up since six in the morning, so of course Naruto responded with a refusal to budge until he'd finished his food. In between obnoxiously loud slurps that earned him more than a few glares easily enough endured, he wondered what made him agree to move in with this guy.

Sure, they'd met on questionable terms, but somehow Sasuke became his best friend over the last two years, and sometimes Naruto still had to ask himself why.

But when Sasuke plopped himself next to Naruto, holding the chopsticks he pulled out of the small box labelled the word kitchen nearly illegible, when he reached with his chopsticks to steal the food in the large cup held over Naruto's lap—Naruto watched Sasuke tilt his head back, swallowed as the noodles wrapped around the chopsticks disappeared into Sasuke's mouth, tried so very hard to ignore the sudden urge to share despite his stomach's apparent unwillingness to comply.

It was another one of those distracting things Sasuke had started doing a lot more of lately, but then again, Naruto couldn't bring himself to say he really minded.

It took nearly two hours to haul their combined lives from two dorms squeezed into thirty plus boxes two flights up a ridiculously narrow stairwell and into their brand new tiny old little apartment.

_Most of this damn junk is yours_, Sasuke had so helpfully pointed out, and for once Naruto didn't have anything to say back because he couldn't deny something that was actually true.

More importantly, though, the truck was returned early with an hour to spare, cutting the rental fee in half, so with the sleeves of his t-shirt rolled up and cuffed at his shoulders, Naruto opened the box that read Naruto's photos written in Sasuke's really nice handwriting.

Shikamaru said he'd drop by to say hi the day before, since he'd already planned a visit to Narita to see his old mentor Asuma from high school. That and he'd admitted he was curious to see the place because the summer break was too short for anything more interesting to happen.

He showed up around two, with the offer to help well after most of the heavy lifting was done. He didn't end up staying long, but that was fine considering his idea of helping was lounging on the couch and telling Naruto and Sasuke how many more boxes they still had left to unpack.

_So this is what you call not dating_, he'd said to Naruto right before leaving. Lucky for him, Sasuke was out of earshot, but it didn't stop Naruto's harsh whisper of _shut the hell up_ at Shikamaru's annoying little smirk as he was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved out the door by a harried Naruto without so much as a goodbye.

Shikamaru was just as bad, if not worse than Kiba, who wouldn't lay off the marriage jokes and making fun of Naruto for spending too much time with Sasuke despite how much they fought and nagged each other, but no matter how many times his former roommate and honorary roommate from across the hall tried to convince him otherwise, he and Sasuke weren't dating.

They just aren't.

Maybe. Probably not. Although somewhere there's a point to be made in the fact that being best friends who get along better when they actually don't made Sasuke very eligible roommate material, completely ignoring the fact that Sasuke had asked him first before Naruto even had a chance to think about asking any other potential candidates that were already taken.

They're just really, really close friends who agreed to live together, because being twenty and that much closer to graduating from Tama is apparently synonymous with being politely dissuaded from signing up for student housing next term in order to make room for incoming first years.

Living in Narita, it's a longer commute to campus, maybe a bit more pricey, but they both have part-time jobs that cover a little more than their total expenses. Not to mention there's a Sukiya only a few blocks down that serves the best beef on rice Naruto's ever had, even better since they're open twenty-four-seven in case he and Sasuke ever run out of food while pulling an all-nighter. Or even on nights like this, lazing with Sasuke on the really comfortable squishy couch that came with the place, still surrounded by too many boxes opened but not emptied and their feet propped on the placeholder of their future coffee table now just a not so wide trunk filled with all the stuff Naruto's not ready to get rid of.

Maybe nights like these are the same kinds of nights he used to spend in Sasuke's dorm room since Suigetsu never seemed to spend enough time there to actually be called Sasuke's roommate. And maybe those same nights are the reason Naruto still hesitates to forget all the times he nudged awake Sasuke dozing off on his shoulder because Sasuke studies too hard trying to be an overachiever whose main goal in life is obviously to make Naruto look bad.

And maybe, just maybe, when he thinks of the first time he noticed the dark ink dotting Sasuke's hands and arms, then sometimes a few flecks of colour over his face, he also remembers his first instinct was to reach for his Nikon he wished he didn't leave in his room.

So he improvised instead. He cocked his head a little, extending his arms in front of him and squinting with his left eye closed, tried to capture Sasuke in a portrait framed by his forefingers and his thumbs.

Of course when Naruto did get the chance to use his Nikon, Sasuke had threatened to break his baby, his first real camera he bought it took an entire three months during his last year in high school to save up for.

It shouldn't have been surprising as it was, though. Being kind of messy, despite the first impression Sasuke had given, that was to be expected for someone like him. But while Sasuke studied traditional styles of painting alongside the calligraphy his mom inspired him to take up, Naruto still wanted to be a world famous photographer even greater than his dad, so it only made sense he'd try to sneak in pictures of a candid Sasuke during those rare instances when Sasuke wasn't paying enough attention to mind.

Yet the closer they grew, the more Naruto found himself yearning for those almost perfect kinds of moments, the more he wanted to see without having to look from behind the lens to capture those too brief glimpses of a Sasuke maybe it was okay to be a little selfish about.

Because to see Sasuke like that, like this, in the foreground of bare walls a blank canvas in this tiny little apartment that's theirs, he wants to fill it all with memories of this Sasuke so open around him—with the light from the TV screen flickering over Sasuke's face, sharpening the contrast between his hair and skin when Sasuke gives him this funny look, head tilted a little to the side with some of his bangs falling over his eyes, cheek pressed against his hand propped up by his elbow on the armrest of the couch.

And then a part of Naruto starts to wonder if Sasuke ever looks at him the way he can't help but look at Sasuke.

"What's wrong with you now?"

Placing a hand on his thigh, Naruto gives Sasuke a grin formed by his mouth stretched far too wide. "What time did you say you have to be at Mosu tomorrow?"

Sasuke pushes his hair away from his eyes, letting his head loll over the back of the couch. He sighs. "Too early."

"No wonder why all those girls started going there lately," Naruto teases, grin faltering just a little. "The rice burgers you make look so pretty." He laughs when Sasuke lifts his head to send him a dry look.

"Of course that's why that place is so busy—my rice burgers." Sasuke snorts.

"Yeah," Naruto says, soft and nearly drowned out by the sound of another one of those Fit's gum CMs with Nozomi and Takeru dancing with that guy in the moon costume. "...your rice burgers."

With the heel of his sock-clad foot, Sasuke pokes Naruto's ankle, then shoves hard enough against Naruto's legs he tries to push off the pseudo coffee table while Naruto flails in his attempt to stay on the couch.

"The hell was that for, bastard? I didn't even—"

"You can be so stupid sometimes."

"Oh yeah? Well, you—you're..."

Sasuke smirks a little, but in this kind of moment between them, with the way Sasuke's looking at him, Naruto wants to think it looks a lot closer to a smile.

He deflates with a sigh then throws his feet back on the trunk not yet their coffee table, doesn't exactly not sulk when he mumbles about Sasuke still being a bastard because it's a sorry comeback if he's ever heard one.

"What're we supposed to be watching anyway?"

"Iljimae."

Facing the TV he almost forgot was on, Naruto's met with the image of some guy with long hair taking off a weird looking mask to kiss some girl wearing a blindfold.

Slowly, he turns back to face Sasuke. "Another one of these sword dramas? Really?"

"If you can still watch Doraemon, I can watch this."

"Hey—hey, that's different," Naruto says. "Everybody grew up on Doraemon. Including _you_." He points a finger at Sasuke's chest. "And at least then I can understand what they're saying."

Sasuke shrugs but shuffles a little closer when Naruto lowers his arm, letting his shoulder brush against Naruto's.

Naruto snorts. "You're really bad with these Korean dramas, you know. Making me read subtitles like this. I don't know if I should blame you or Suigetsu."

"You don't have to watch."

"That's not the point and you know it."

Covering his mouth, Sasuke yawns, eyes still fixed on the screen when the long-haired guy begins to draw his sword.

It's contagious by default, so Naruto doesn't bother to cover his mouth as he stretches his arms above his head, watches Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

Once, Jiraiya tried to teach him the old yawn-and-reach technique. In fact, his uncle started trying to teach him a lot of things after Naruto discovered Jiraiya was good for more than his collection of glamour magazines Naruto used to borrow without asking as a kid, but using yawning as an excuse to put an arm around someone's shoulder, it's cheesy.

It's so ridiculously and incredibly cheesy that it can only work in movies and dramas and his uncle's perverted memoirs that should never have been shared out loud. Naruto wouldn't even think about trying the yawn-and-reach with someone like Sasuke. Considering it never worked the few times he did try, he already knows he lacks the kind of subtlety it takes to pull off, and he doesn't need to make himself feel as stupid as Sasuke seems to think he is.

One arm does fall a little closer to Sasuke, though, and it's not until he hears Sasuke's voice does Naruto freeze when he realises what he almost did.

"Try it and see what happens."

Clearing his throat, Naruto lowers his arm over the back of the couch instead, tries to be casual, because Sasuke's always been a little prickly with personal space. Except when he's not. And even then it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. "What—I can't stretch now?"

Sasuke sighs, impatient and annoyed, mutters an almost breathless sounding, "Brainless wonder" before he grabs the back of Naruto's neck and kisses him—shit, it's Sasuke _kissing_ him—with his lips smooth and fingers rough clutching Naruto's hair pressing into the skin below his nape while Naruto leans into the kiss with a hand reaching to touch Sasuke's face.

And then he closes his eyes, starts to think of all those almost touches and almost kisses he'd tell himself he'd imagined, those almost smiles he could have sworn were just a trick of the light—too many moments of not quite never happened accumulating to all the reasons they weren't dating, proved that they aren't dating, yet Naruto can't help it if he feels a little dazed after Sasuke eventually does pull away.

He licks his lips pressed together, ignores the smug look on Sasuke's face that's a little too smug, and they both turn back to watch the TV Naruto almost forgot about again. Because about that whole not dating thing.

Maybe they are.


	5. If We Are Wise

_A sort of knee-jerk reaction to chapter 590 in the manga, this became a purely selfish thing to write. __I actually debated about including it in this series, since it's in Itachi's pov, yet what's done is done. Because if I can have brotherly fluff on top of my Sasuke and Naruto, I'm one happy little camper. __Ignore the ItachiMei, though. I have an impossible thing for that._

_**Narusasu lover:** Thank you. Glad you liked it. ^^;;_

_**ion6456:** Thanks for reading. ^^ Honestly, I'm working on too many of these at once, so it's just a matter of what my mood allows me to finish first, but the almost not date scene is one I'm halfway through._

_..._

_"You still have the remarkable tendency to look like a pufferfish when you do that."_

...

**If We Are Wise**

After two years of delving a life back and forth between America and Europe, to be home in Japan is a poignant reassurance, the type of which Itachi isn't certain he can name but only just lets himself inhibit.

He arrived in Narita yesterday night. Leather suitcase abandoned at the foot of the bed, the lingering fatigue from jet lag led him to fall asleep after only removing his jacket and loosening his tie. This morning he awoke still wearing his Bruno Magli loafers, the top two buttons of his wrinkled collared shirt undone, and the pants of a Dolce and Gabbana suit still immaculately creased, yet despite the much needed respite offered by sleep, he felt more restive than refreshed in the hotel room that brought him that much closer to home.

Following a warm shower, he slipped into more informal attire consisting of fitted slacks, a light shirt, and comfortable shoes. The effort to appear casual, however, resulted in an overall less than casual appearance, too much so for what he intended, but it was a consequence of a habit too far ingrained.

It's for the reason his business itinerary doesn't begin until tomorrow that Itachi left New York two days before initially scheduled. Any leisure time will be severely limited throughout his week here, and it's by windfall alone Narita also happens to be where Sasuke lives.

He hasn't seen his brother since Sasuke began attending Tama University. They kept in touch, through a repeated stream of phone conversations Itachi would usually end first with an abrupt promise to call again later, but the strain from those two years brings a reluctant awareness they'd already begun to drift away long before he made the decision to leave Japan.

Under the pretence of routine, he spoke to Sasuke earlier, when he finished the breakfast brought to his room and sent his suit to be dry-cleaned. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the call. Ten in the morning here equated to nine at night over there, but Itachi didn't bother to correct Sasuke's assumption that he was still in New York.

It takes forty-five minutes from the hotel near the airport to reach Sasuke's apartment on the edge of the city. In hindsight, riding the train would have circumvented the traffic still high on a Sunday, although time during the nearly hour long drive becomes increasingly fleeting when he parks the rental car in the only space available across from the drab three-story apartment complex.

He unlocks the car but doesn't move from his seat. Instead, he stares at the chained watch around his wrist draped over the steering wheel he doesn't allow himself to lean against. It's a limited edition Seiko from the Ananta series and one out of only 150 made that year. He received it from his father before leaving Japan, a gift to commemorate the stock market launch of the international marketing firm it took him five years to build from the ground up—the same five of the last fifteen years it took to secede from the influence of familial expectations he'd willingly accepted if only to ensure the obligation wouldn't fall to Sasuke.

He glances at the complex across the street, then again at his watch. At a quarter till twelve, with a sigh, he opens the door and leaves the car.

Hushed steps lead him to the balcony of the second floor. A modest apprehension kindles the impulse to furl long sleeves with unbuttoned cuffs folded above his elbows. Beside a welcome mat painfully orange, he stands to the left of the door, outside the purview of the peephole.

In front of him, mounted on the wall is a simple acrylic frame transparent and slightly crooked. He reads the names Uchiha and Uzumaki written with both Japanese characters and Roman letters on the small printout centred between the two plates, but it takes another moment or two for him to ring the doorbell.

A loud buzz resounds in the otherwise quiet surrounding the complex. The air he breathes in is damp, reflects the humidity of the summer season nearing its end, yet his mouth feels inexplicably dry when he hears the familiar tenor of Sasuke's voice approaching the door.

"Because you know I'm still trying to work on this painting, that's why, so just do it, Naruto. I haven't even started yet, and I'm not—_shut up about that_," he hisses, and Itachi listens with a keen ear, able to discern embarrassment more so than genuine irritation from the subtle rise in Sasuke's tone.

There's a click when the knob turns, followed by a lull in Sasuke's conversation that resumes as the door begins to open. "You drank all the milk," he says, "so don't expect me to—no, you're the moron who—"

Small phone pressed against his ear, Sasuke only stares, agape with his mouth slightly parted, and Itachi can't help the traces of an amused smile that steals upon his face.

His brother hasn't changed much. Rumpled in a notably worn blue shirt marred by various specks of colour and loose black sweatpants rolled over his calves, it's that too casual disregard of his appearance Sasuke still retains.

His cheeks seem a little more prominent, though, his hair a little longer held back with a tie leaving a few strands falling along the sides of his face. Perhaps he's a little taller even, almost negating the slightly noticeable height difference between them that still allows Sasuke to look up to him, but Itachi lets himself take a particular comfort in the realisation that two years hasn't made such a difference after all.

A voice through the phone's speaker, the sound of his name low yet firm, makes Sasuke blink. "I'll...I'll call you back," he says, soft, nearly a whisper. Without looking away, he lowers his arm, ending the call with his thumb pushing a button on the side of the phone. "...I can't believe you're here. You're actually here."

"As opposed to being..."

"Not here," Sasuke says, pulling on the handle of the broad paintbrush tucked behind his right ear. "You're supposed to be in New York. You didn't say anything about being in Narita when you called me. I thought I wouldn't—" He pauses, lips pursed. "When'd you get here?"

"My flight landed last night." With a glance behind him, Itachi gestures to the black car parked across the street. "I drove here."

"You should have said something then. You didn't even give me the chance to meet you at the airport. Why didn't you tell me? I could have picked you up. I could have—"

"Sasuke..."

"Tch." A slight pull at the corner of Sasuke's mouth doesn't quite set into a frown. "Don't say my name like that. I haven't seen you in two years, but you just decide to show up here unannounced, and I..."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed to come in?"

For a moment, Itachi wonders if Sasuke's going to reach out for him, recalls a time not too long ago when Sasuke's arms would readily wrap around his waist, but when Sasuke raises his hand, he reaches behind him instead, rubs the back of his neck as he turns away from the threshold.

The smile Itachi struggles to maintain becomes a little more strained, suddenly heavy and weary as he removes his shoes by the door. However, as Sasuke turns to face him again, the kind of smile he's never allowed his brother to see recedes behind a calm expression.

"So..." Laying an arm over his chest, Sasuke grips the sleeve of his shirt with his fingers.

The silence between them isn't wholly uncomfortable. Despite his almost rigid stance, Sasuke's body language seems more anxious than anything else, so Itachi takes the lapse in conversation as an opportunity to survey the apartment Sasuke calls home with Naruto.

Charitably, it's not much smaller than the suites commonly found in the Western style hotels he's grown accustomed to, and he can easily map the arrangement from the entryway.

To his immediate left is a kitchenette. Further along his right is a short hallway diverging into a single bedroom and one bathroom. The focal point of the apartment, though, is the sitting room. It takes up a considerable breadth, with an amalgamation of accumulated photos and ink wash paintings spanned every corner of four broad walls.

Sequestered in the middle, Sasuke takes a seat on a foldable metal chair, next to paint supplies piled on top of a trunk and surrounded by a drop cloth spread the expanse of open space beneath him. Behind him is a narrow stand. The upper shelf sits a small flat screen TV, alongside a few stacked magazines and DVDs on the lower shelf. On the other side of the room, a plain white sofa sits against the wall, adjacent to three mounds of clothes folded neatly on top of a coffee table.

As a whole, it's a quaint little place. The atmosphere is pleasant, the apartment itself cosy if not outright cramped, but it's a significantly far cry from Itachi's condominium in New York comparatively barren despite the two years spent living there.

"It's nice."

Sasuke shrugs, nonchalant, setting his phone on top of the trunk. "It's comfortable," he says. "Not bad considering how close we are to the city."

Body contorted on the chair, his left arm is laid against the ankle of his right leg held to his chest. The inside of his right elbow is bent around his right knee, hand placed over his left shoulder. His left leg lies folded on the seat of the chair, knee pointed outward to the side, with the bottom of his left foot pressed against the inside of the right.

Curling into himself is a nervous habit Sasuke apparently hasn't outgrown, but it's also one Itachi hasn't forgotten.

"Reminds me of your old room," he says, because it truly does. In high school, when Sasuke began to paint in earnest, he'd sometimes seclude himself in his room, rearrange his furniture against the walls to clear a large area in the centre his self-designated provisional studio.

"It works," Sasuke says. "And Naruto doesn't mind."

Itachi nods with an absent hum. He takes a seat on the sofa and lifts a sock-clad foot to rest over his thigh as his gaze travels along the walls. Alongside the paintings, scattered on the white surface are photographs an assortment of sizes.

It isn't completely unexpected. Sasuke's mentioned Naruto studying photography in passing. While only a handful of the photos on display are professional, there's still an admirable quality about them, a rare kind of sincerity Naruto's able to seize.

Some of the photos depict scenery of the city. Others held to the wall by orange and yellow thumbtacks are more candid shots the traditional size of postcards, mostly of Sasuke and Naruto, coupled with a few featuring people Itachi doesn't recognise. One in particular, however, does stand out.

It's a photo of Sasuke and Naruto standing near a lamppost, on the pier of a canal the partition from well-lit buildings vanishing in the backdrop.

Naruto has one arm around Sasuke's shoulders, his other arm extended outside the frame holding the camera. Their cheeks close together, Sasuke's unable to curb a burgeoning smile that somehow manages to make the wide grin plastered on Naruto's face seem even wider.

Their relationship is somewhat of a surprise, Itachi can admit. Apart from family members and the small circle of people close to him, his brother's normally a taciturn person, sometimes to the effect of appearing aloof due to a fierce independent streak that drove him halfway across Honshu after being accepted to Tama.

Over the course of two years, Itachi's periodic conversations with Sasuke were gradually interfered by Naruto. For the man whose head broke the practice sword Itachi had given Sasuke at fourteen, the infamous Naruto who wouldn't leave Sasuke alone after their first encounter, Sasuke's initial aggravation became a fond annoyance that eventually led to Sasuke sharing an apartment with Naruto.

Yet they're complements. With Naruto, Sasuke is happy, and Itachi can't fault Naruto for latching on to memories of his brother he's not a part of.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Sasuke says. "Or something to eat? We still have some leftovers from last night if you're—"

"I'm fine," Itachi says, glancing at the wall once more. His gaze falls on a sparse landscape, splashed with delicate brushstrokes coloured hues of blue and red. "Interesting choice of decor. I don't remember seeing any of these paintings before."

"They aren't my best. My advisor's trying to force me out of my comfort zone, so it's more like they're experimental pieces."

Sasuke looks down at the trunk beside him. An unwound roll of the unsized rice paper he prefers to use sits near the edge. Beside it are a small, transparent bottle of water and three brushes placed on top of a long sheet of felt cloth that's been folded twice parallel the length of the trunk. In the remaining patch of area at the centre uncovered, inside an ink grinding stone is an ink stick still sealed in plastic and a tiny watercolour palette also unopened.

He scoffs. "It was Naruto's idea anyway. After I told him what Kakashi wanted me to do, he thought putting them on the wall would help, even though I—"

"No, they're..." Itachi says, almost taken back by such a substantially perceptive gesture from Naruto, "they're stunning, really. Much more so in person than in the photos of the other ones you sent."

It's nothing less than what he's come to expect from Sasuke. Even at an early age, his brother showed an immense propensity for painting, beginning the day their mother caught a six year old Sasuke rummaging through the lacquered cherry wood box carrying the ornamental calligraphy set passed down from her side of the family. Instead of scolding Sasuke, however, she encouraged him to pursue the interest.

Finally letting his hand fall away from his shoulder, Sasuke tilts his head with a slight motion towards Itachi. His body begins to unfold from the chair, and he places his left foot on the floor. "You really think so?"

"I think knowing Naruto has been good for you."

Sasuke closes his eyes, releasing a soft peal of laughter. "He can be such a stupid idiot at times, but he's..."

"Naruto?"

"...yeah." Lifting his head, Sasuke peers at Itachi, looks to him with such trusting eyes. It's an image of his little brother still hard to let go of, but when Sasuke reaches a hand to push away the hair fallen over his face, he grants him the tentative kind of smile Itachi realises is no longer reserved for him alone. "He is."

Smile slowly forming into a smirk, Sasuke removes himself from the chair and walks the short distance to sit on the sofa. "So when's the last time you heard from Mei?" He leans towards Itachi with crossed legs and his arms folded over his lap.

It's an attempt to divert the conversation away from his relationship with Naruto that proves successful, if only because Mei is a topic uncharacteristically sensitive for Itachi, one of the few things able to put more than the slightest dent in his composure.

For five years he's known Mei, the woman he met through a fledgling business partnership turned near disaster that developed into a string of sporadic long-distance liaisons.

Predominantly, he considers her his competition. She's his rival with the alluring green eyes, modest a-line skirts, and a playful smile as sharp as the heels of her Sergio Rossi stilettos clacking upon the floor. While the company she works for is smaller than his own, the presence of its advertising sector she heads nearly corners the Southeast Asian market he still hasn't been able to breach.

Outside their inevitable crossing of paths, however, she's become what his family considers to be his romantic interest, Mei with the same alluring gaze and the even more enticing long red hair normally concealed in a loose bun that he's seen splayed the length of her bare back on more than a few occasions.

"You know everyone's wondering who's going to propose first," Sasuke says, smirk still present and the palm of his hand held against his cheek, elbow resting on top of his knee.

"So I continue to be told." A supposedly foreseeable engagement with Mei has been the general consensus within his family for some time now. None of them, Sasuke and their parents included, are above relaying less than subtle allusions to his refusal to settle down at twenty-five. In his position, he'd prefer not to overlap the line drawing the distinction in his life between matters business and personal, although he supposes Mei accepting his invitation to his aunt's wedding next year doesn't necessarily help dissuade the rumours; the possibility of Mei catching the bouquet has already become the subject of too much idle gossip.

"I wonder, though," he says, with an obvious lilt to his voice, "if everyone would make the same assumption if they knew about your relationship with Naruto."

The smirk is quick to disappear, replaced with a flustered disbelief tinged upon his cheeks when Sasuke sits upright, hand holding his face fallen back to his lap. "It's only been three months."

"You've already known him for two years. It's only natural you should invite him to the wedding."

A little less flustered, Sasuke purses his lips. "I'm not inviting that idiot to a wedding. He doesn't even like ironing his clothes. The closest thing he has to a suit is his dad's old jacket that's probably older than he is, and I'd have to strangle him with a tie before he'd agree to wear one."

"I'll even treat him to fugu in Shimonoseki."

"Itachi..."

At Sasuke's drawl still carrying remnants of a nasally whine, Itachi lets himself indulge in the slightest hint of a teasing smile.

"Please don't make that face."

"Which face are you referring to?"

"You know which face I'm talking about."

Itachi pokes Sasuke's forehead with his forefinger.

Head drawn back, Sasuke blinks in surprise, scrunching his nose. It's the same reaction he's always had to the gesture, still has even after so long, and he follows with the expected half-hearted protest to push away Itachi's hand. "You'd think I'd be old enough for you not to do that anymore."

"Some things can't be helped."

"Only because you won't help them."

Itachi concedes with a soft hum. Granted, he can't contend otherwise, but there remain some things about his brother he's not yet ready to see change, and it's easier to assert that notion when the Sasuke in front of him continues to evoke memories of a much younger Sasuke impatient and constantly demanding his sole attention, glaring with the entirety of his face in the form of narrowed eyes and a ubiquitous pout accompanied by slightly inflated cheeks.

"You still have the remarkable tendency to look like a pufferfish when you do that."

Cheeks deflating, Sasuke looks away, draping an arm over the back of the sofa. "...don't call me a pufferfish."

Itachi snorts. "Does that mean you're going to invite Naruto to the wedding?"

"I'm not going."

"I thought you already set aside vacation time to go." Itachi frowns when Sasuke shrugs. "Did you change your mind because Sai's going to be there?"

With a groan, Sasuke turns to face Itachi with his head resting against his arm on the couch. "No, but he's more than enough reason not to go."

Although he knows there's no real meaning behind the words, Itachi doesn't smile. "Why aren't you going, Sasuke?"

After a moment of staring far too prolonged, Sasuke sighs. "We won't be able to afford a trip to Yamaguchi right now. Not on our budget."

"There's nothing wrong with asking for help."

"I don't want anyone to pay for me."

"It's not for you. It's for the family," Itachi says, moving the foot placed over his thigh to the floor. "I know I haven't been here, Sasuke. I know I haven't always been—" He pauses, frowns again simply to curtail the weary sigh that almost does escape. "Yet as long as I've been away from Japan, you haven't been home in a while, either."

Sasuke closes his eyes, sinking further into the cushions of the sofa.

"You can't avoid it forever."

"...I know."

"You still have a few months to consider it, if you decide to change your mind—given that you seem to have prospective buyers in Yamaguchi who've garnered enough interest in your old portfolio to express an interest to meet you."

Sasuke opens his eyes and raises his head. "You heard about that?"

"Mm-hm."

"Mom told you?"

"Dad did, actually."

"...he did?"

"He told me last month, and now I can't help but wonder why you thought you couldn't tell me."

"Oh..." Sasuke's teeth press on top of the left side of his lower lip. He doesn't quite fidget but refrains from meeting Itachi's gaze.

"Or why you don't seem excited enough to even reconsider going to Yamaguchi."

"It's not a big deal." Sasuke tugs on the handle of the brush still tucked behind his ear. He snorts. "I'm no Hasegawa."

_I'm not you_, Sasuke doesn't say, but he doesn't have to say anything for Itachi to know it's there. The words lie unspoken between them, a consequence of years the compilation of inadvertent comparisons simply because Sasuke was born after him. Already frayed, he was left with a carefully crafted confidence, a facade dangerously hinged upon the occasional assurance from Itachi.

He knows he shouldn't have such a strong influence on his brother at this point in Sasuke's life, but regardless of the reason, he still does, so Itachi reaches for Sasuke with a gentle hand, with a familiar ease not yet fully displaced by nostalgia as he pulls Sasuke towards him.

"No, you're not Hasegawa," he whispers, fingers maintaining their grasp loose around strands of Sasuke's hair," but you don't have to be. You're already well on the way of establishing a name for yourself. I can't tell you what to do anymore, Sasuke. You're twenty. You're old enough to make your own decisions. Yet despite that, as much as I'm your older brother, you're still my little brother, so whatever you decide to do in life, I will always be proud of you, Sasuke."

Leaning against Itachi, forehead passed against his, Sasuke swallows, bears again the tentative kind of smile that almost tempts Itachi into never letting him go.

"_Always_."

"...Itachi, I—"

They both turn at the noise from the entryway, the loud jiggling of the knob and the abrupt voice filtering through the door beginning to open.

"You're such a stingy asshole, you know that."

The voice scoffs, announcing the arrival of a blond man—Naruto—making his entrance backwards into the apartment.

"I can't believe you hung up on me like that. Not even bothering to give me a reason, and then you had the nerve to turn off your phone, too." Unsteady on one foot, he nudges closed the door, fumbles to lock it while holding a white paper bag in both arms.

"You know how long it took me to get out of that place you made me go to?" he says, releasing a series of frustrated grunts during an apparent struggle to remove his shoes at the entryway. He doesn't wait for an answer. "I'm talking a very long time, Sasuke—a _really_, very long time."

Sasuke snorts, shaking his head with a murmured _idiot_, and Itachi blinks at the nearly palpable affection conveyed through such a simple word.

"But get this," Naruto says, yet to make headway with either shoe. "The guy at the only other open register in the store almost threatened to kick me out, all because some blind old lady with two carts full of stuff thought I cut in front of her—which I didn't.

"Really, I mean, she was the one who cut in front of me in the express lane she shouldn't have been in first place because I was the one who only had ten things in a basket, but then the guy started—hey, when'd you get the time to get new shoes, bastard? I thought you said you were working on the painting Kakashi's making you do. These shoes aren't even your size. They're too big for you. Not to mention you don't even like these kinds of...these kinds of..."

After removing his shoes, Naruto steps out the entryway, finally taking notice of Itachi. "Did I, uh...um, did you—am I missing something here?"

Sasuke groans, dropping his head against Itachi's shoulder.

Clearly perturbed, Naruto looks between them with wide eyes, arms holding the paper bag becoming slack. "Okay, I definitely think I'm missing something here."

A grin slowly begins to form on Itachi's face, an almost gentle smile that gives way to the slightest hint of a smirk. He ignores the nasally drawl the sound of his name muffled against his shoulder he can feel Sasuke's cheeks inflate against. "Hello, Naruto."

"...uh, hi?"


	6. Stuck on You

_This is the earliest part in the series so far, takes place in their second year. It's more pre-slash but still pretty far along in their friendship where it's starting to cross the line into something else._

_**Anon:** Thanks for reading. ^^_

_..._

_"I need you to be the muse. Be my inspiration."_

...

**Stuck on You**

Laundry. All Sasuke wanted to do was drop off his last load of laundry that he'd allowed to pile up over the last couple of weeks because of a project. He almost made it, too, quietly carried himself up six flights of stairs from the basement floor with no unexpected interruption from a certain idiot who'd taken it upon himself to develop a habit of ambushing Sasuke on his self-appointed laundry day early Saturday mornings.

He only had himself to blame for being that predictable, though, so really, only a few metres away from his room, just on the other side of the hallway, it was only a matter of time until he was barrelled over by a flying body, his only warning the most annoying and shrill voice known to man calling out his name before an armful of Naruto nearly flung him to the floor.

"Morning." Planted against Sasuke's side, Naruto grins, smile stretched wide across his face and far too alert for this time of day.

"Shut up before you wake up the entire floor," Sasuke hisses. "Where did you even come from?"

"Stopped here before my morning run. Want to come with me?"

"No." Sasuke takes in Naruto's clothes, the light grey shirt and the bright orange track pants with three white stripes trailing down the outer sides. It doesn't explain why Naruto's still hanging off him, but there are a lot of things about Naruto that Sasuke doesn't think can be explained. "Now go away."

"Sure, later, but right now, I have a favour to ask."

"If you need something, do the sensible thing and call me. It's not even eight yet."

"Everybody already knows you're the only person crazy enough to wake up this early on a Saturday to do laundry. Not to mention, you don't like to answer your phone when you see my number."

Which Sasuke has his reasons for. Very good reasons. Namely the fact that most of them have something to do with Naruto. "What do you want?" he says, retracting his arm from around Naruto's waist that only reached out for Naruto to prevent them both from tumbling to the floor.

"I need you to be my subject for a sketchbook assignment in Professor Genma's class."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"If you do it, I'll buy you that curry rice you like so much."

"No amount of curry rice in the world could—"

"Come on, Sasuke, don't be so mean."

With a hand over Naruto's chest, Sasuke shoves him to the floor, only to find himself flailing in the attempt to keep his balance when arms clamp around his leg. "Naru—"

"I already asked, didn't I? You're supposed to say yes when I ask."

Sasuke sneers, trying to push away with his hand Naruto's head seemingly attached to his leg. There are times when he really does wonder if he hit Naruto too hard that day. "I'm not agreeing to do anything for a brash guy who thinks it's okay to throw himself at people because he has no self-respect."

"In this kind of situation, I'd only do it for you."

"Let go. Of my leg."

"_Never_." Visibly determined, uncomfortably so, Naruto tightens his grip. "Not until you say you'll help me."

"_Idiot_, get off me. "

"But Sasuke—"

"_Now_." Moving down the hall towards his apartment, Sasuke begins to drag Naruto across the floor, struggling against the deadweight of the leech he still can't shake off.

"You have to do it."

"No, I don't."

"But I _need_ you," Naruto whines—whines because that's what he does. Whines and goes on about senseless things that nobody's able to make him shut up about, the level of sheer persistence when he puts his mind to something is more than enough to wear anybody down, even if he has to work a little harder to include Sasuke in that category. "I'm down here begging for help because I need you, but you won't help me because you're always so cold to me."

"What is wrong with you?" Gritting his teeth, Sasuke stumbles as he leans down to take off his slipper he uses to hit the top of Naruto's head with. Repeatedly. He should have worn his shoes. "Grown men don't act like this."

"I just want to take a picture. I always take pictures of my friends, except you haven't let me—"

"Then ask Shika—" Sasuke again tries to shake Naruto off his leg to no avail. "Ask Shikamaru or Kiba, or pick up some stranger for all I care—just make sure it's somebody else not me."

"It'll be fun. Really, really—"

"If you don't let go of my leg, I'm going to—"

Releasing Sasuke's leg, Naruto quickly jumps to his feet, but his hands make a grab for Sasuke's shoulders before Sasuke has the chance to get away. He punctures his words with a light shake and imploring eyes that have the adverse effect of holding Sasuke's attention. "I need you to be the muse. Be my inspiration."

The pleading turned half-baked motivational speech, of course, does little to motivate Sasuke, apart from inspiring the twitch over his left eye. "The hell I'm being your damn anything."

"But you're already my friend, aren't you?"

"Not this again," Sasuke mumbles, dropping his slipper to the floor and sliding his foot back into it. He's not going to be sent into some guilt trip over a stupid picture, but neither will he deny the not quite grudging friendship between them, because, despite their differences and seemingly incompatible natures at first glance, it actually does mean something to him. "Will you leave me alone if I say yes?"

"Just one picture. That's all I need to go from."

"It's one of Genma's assignments. All you have to do is sketch a pumpkin or some goddamn fruit in a bowl and be done with it—why do you need me?"

"Because I want to draw you," Naruto says, simple, not even the slightest bit unsure, and he smiles like the answer's something obvious Sasuke should have already known.

Scowling beneath his breath, Sasuke looks at the wall to his left. He's never had problems turning people down before, especially people like Naruto, who's recently learned to exploit an aptitude for grating on his nerves. Except with Naruto, the way he looks at him sometimes, with the same kind of sincerity in his eyes behind the offhand things he says too often, as if he really does mean it, there's something about Naruto that lowers his defences just a little bit and becomes the course of too many moments like this that are almost enough to make Sasuke believe him.

"You can't even draw."

"No," Naruto says, because it's no secret he doesn't draw well or do anything remotely artistic through a medium that isn't film. Even that chicken scratch he calls handwriting is questionable from time to time, yet despite not disagreeing about his cringe-worthy inability to draw anything that isn't crude, Naruto just continues to look at Sasuke, giving his shoulders a firm squeeze. "But that doesn't mean you don't inspire me to try."

And it's when Naruto says an offhand thing like that, the kind of embarrassing thing that manages to catch him off guard more often than he'd like to admit, sometimes, Sasuke doesn't know what to think anymore.

His gaze lowers to the faded, demented smiley face printed on Naruto's shirt, nestled between the English words _Smile_ and _It Confuses People_, and Sasuke sucks his teeth.

There's no denying he and Naruto are close, maybe even close enough for Sasuke to let him get away with saying such an inappropriate thing aloud. It's probably his fault for still expecting any kind of tact from a painfully straightforward person like Naruto anyway.

"...fine."

Immediately, Naruto beams, and Sasuke swears he hears something that sounds suspiciously like direct-hit, but he's more annoyed by Naruto's shameless enthusiasm.

"Really? You mean it? You'll let me take your picture so I can draw you?"

"Shut up about it before I change my mind."

"Okay, yeah, yeah—will do." Naruto continues to grin, giving Sasuke's shoulders another squeeze before Sasuke remembers to push his hands away. "When's the next time you're free? I have a week until I need to turn it in, so let me know so I can check out some lighting equipment, because I—"

"Who said anything about lighting equipment?"

"Sasuke, really." Naruto tilts his head down, stares at him with this infuriatingly knowing look that's not much more than an overstated show of mock disappointment. "You know me better than that by now, don't you?"

Unfortunately, Sasuke can't say he doesn't, but that still doesn't give Naruto a plausible excuse to keep dragging him into these kinds of situations. "You said one picture. I didn't agree to—"

"Yeah," Naruto says, slow with a low chuckle, "about that, it might take more than one picture to get _that_ picture. The one I'll end up using to turn in for a grade—most likely, if I want to have a good pool to pick from, so—" He brings his hands together with a loud clap then rubs them against each other.

"I was thinking about it in my Art Science class yesterday, then I came up with the idea of drawing you doing one of your paintings, and that's the mood I'm going for," he says, standing beside Sasuke and draping an arm across his shoulders. With his other arm, he makes a wide, grandiose gesture of his hand, directing Sasuke's gaze towards the ceiling. "The messy bastard."

He turns to Sasuke with an ear-splitting grin too wide to be one of his usual flippant smiles. "What do you think?"

Really, Sasuke can't believe he's actually being serious about it. "I think you should remember I know where you keep your camera."

"...is that a threat?" Squinting, Naruto begins to loom closer as Sasuke begins to draw away.

It makes him uncomfortable, the clichéd kind of uncomfortable that leaves him feeling highly exposed in the scrutinising closeness between them. Over the year and a half since they first met, Naruto's become one of the few people who know him, maybe a little too well, considering how Sasuke's yet to push him away this time.

It's another one of those offhand things Naruto just does, though, the kind of thing Sasuke always questions because he doesn't quite give into the desire that makes him want to believe in the possibility it could mean something other than Naruto simply being Naruto, but every time he tries to push himself away, with just one look, he can't help but find himself being pulled right back in.

"Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"You're too close," Sasuke breathes, swallows when he feels Naruto's breath too warm over the corner of his mouth.

"Am I?"

"Yeah," Sasuke says, clipped. He pulls Naruto's arm from around him and steps away. "You are."

Blinking, Naruto frowns. Or at least his expression relays something between a frown and the kind of confusion from thinking too hard. "Sasuke, I—"

"Oh." Suigetsu peeks his head from behind the door to their shared apartment. "It's just that guy who likes to follow you, Sasuke. And here I thought you were cursing out your hamper again."

"How'd you know it was me?" Surprisingly nonchalant, Naruto leans against Sasuke with his elbow propped on Sasuke's shoulder. He waves with a playful smile as Suigetsu opens the door. "You weren't eavesdropping, were you?"

"With how loud you are, Blondie, that kind of thing can't be helped. As interesting as you two are, though, you're not that interesting." Grinning, Suigetsu sips through a thin, short straw the Binggrae banana milk he sometimes receives in the care packages his mom sends him from Korea. "Definitely not interesting enough to excuse waking me up at this ungodly hour."

Sasuke scoffs, for the umpteenth time removing Naruto's arm from around his shoulder. "You were already on the phone with Karin before I even left."

Suigetsu's grin doesn't falter when Sasuke sidesteps him to enter the apartment. "So I was, but hey—don't let me stop you from whatever you two were doing, Sasuke. I only got out of my futon because I had to take a piss."

"That's the kind of thing that shouldn't be shared so casually," Naruto mutters, following Sasuke inside.

Suigetsu nods with a low hum, taking another sip of his drink. He closes the door behind him. "Thanks, by the way, for picking up my laundry with yours. I won't say anything about my mp3 player for a while."

Sasuke grunts as he makes his way towards his side of the room.

"What happened to your mp3 player?" Naruto says, kicking off his running shoes before setting foot onto the tatami mat floor.

"This guy," Suigetsu says, pointing his thumb at Sasuke, "he stole it."

Leaning down to fold his futon, Sasuke snorts. "It's not like you use it."

"That shouldn't matter, should it?" Suigetsu sighs, conveying the haplessness of his internal suffering through raised hands and an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. "Between you and Karin, nothing in my room is safe."

"Don't leave it lying around on the floor then."

"It's not like you actually stay here long enough to tell the difference, right?" Naruto says, shuffling next to the closet Sasuke stuffs his futon in.

"Oh sure, take his side," Suigetsu says, mouth curled into a smile around his straw. "The guy who routinely threatens to smother me with a pillow in my sleep if I even so much as think about touching his stuff."

Naruto raises an eyebrow. "Somehow, the fact you threaten to do that to other people besides me, Sasuke, I don't know how I should feel about that right now."

Sasuke rolls his eyes, ignoring the obvious deadpan in Naruto's voice and the even more obvious impish grin Suigetsu sends his way.

"Well, Sasuke hasn't actually killed me yet, so considering the kind of person my roommate turned out to be, I suppose I'm grateful for that sort of thing."

Naruto snorts while Suigetsu snickers, but neither can refrain from the fit of giggles they break into over their source of entertainment at Sasuke's expense.

"Anyway," Suigetsu says, when he and Naruto finally begin to calm down, "I plan on being here today, so I kind of need you to take Sasuke off my hands, okay. Go for a long walk or something—you like that sort of thing, don't you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke lifts his shirt over his head, exchanging it for a long-sleeved one he took out of the closet. Slipping his arms through the sleeves, he pulls the collar over his head to find a somewhat disoriented Naruto staring at him. He shrugs it off and turns back to Suigetsu. "Why?"

Suigetsu crushes the emptied bottle in his hand and tosses it in the small trash bin beside Naruto, causing Naruto to startle. "Because Karin's coming over for her birthday, remember." He picks up a DVD still sealed in plastic lying on the small desk by his unmade futon. "And I got my mom to send me the latest Super Junior concert DVD."

"Who?" Naruto says.

"Some Korean boy band with too many members," Sasuke says.

"Not just any Korean boy band. It's the Korean boy band Karin happens to be obsessed with right now." Suigetsu wriggles his eyebrows. "Do you know how hard it is to get a hold of this kind of thing in Japan? She's going to go crazy when I show her, so I just need you to let Naruto keep you preoccupied for a while so we can watch it together, yeah."

"Whatever. I'm heading out to the studio anyway." Sasuke bends down to pick up the large black art portfolio case leaned against the wall. He lays the strap over his shoulder. "With your mp3 player."

Suigetsu says thanks in Korean, or what Sasuke thinks amount to thanks from his limited exposure to the language through Suigetsu. "Kleptomaniac or not, have I ever told you much I really liked you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke snorts. "Just don't leave this place a mess when I get back."

"Sure, sure."

"And don't forget to pick up the rest of the laundry," Sasuke says as he and Naruto slip into their shoes. "It's in the third dryer by—"

"By the window. Yeah, I know. It's the only one you'll use," Suigetsu says, hands on their shoulders guiding Naruto and Sasuke out of the apartment. "Don't forget not to come back until after six. Oh, and I'll tell Karin you said hi, so bye."

The door closes behind their backs, and Naruto laughs a little, the light sound gradually fading down the hallway.

"I can't believe he just kicked us out like that."

"He's been begging for the place to himself for months, ever since he found out Karin told me her birthday."

"He really likes her, huh," Naruto says, walking alongside Sasuke towards the stairway. "So why doesn't he just ask her out then?"

"It's Suigetsu." Sasuke shrugs. "Who knows?"

"...I guess, but hey," Naruto says, reaching for Sasuke's wrist, "before you go to the studio, come by my place first?"

"Aren't you supposed to go running?"

"I can always go running later, but if you're going to paint now, if you can wait a little while for me, I can go back to change and get my camera. The studio's already pretty well lit, so if you really don't mind me taking a picture of you..."

The thumb absently rubbing circles along the inside of his wrist makes him pause, makes him sigh at the way Naruto won't stop looking at him, and once again Sasuke finds himself being pulled right back in. "Just one picture."

"Just one."

"Then I don't—I wouldn't mind waiting for you."

"Yeah?"

"...yeah."


	7. Smile Tomorrow Again

_This one takes place about a year after Spell Me, near the end of Naruto and Sasuke's fourth year in college, and marks the return of Sakura and Ino (I like them a little too much), since I have an obvious thing for a big brother Naruto who's an absolute ham._

_**saby a**: Thanks for reading. ^^;;_

...

_"Although it's nice to finally have a smart, older sibling-like figure I can look up to, sometimes, I really question how smart you can be having agreed to date someone like Naruto."_

...

**Smile Tomorrow Again**

On the screen of Naruto's laptop, blurry footage beginning to clear shows Ino impatiently patting the empty space beside her on the bed. "Come on, Forehead, hurry up!"

"Wait for me, Ino," Sakura calls out, voice muffled through static from the computer's speaker. "I'm coming—I'm coming."

Ino shuffles to the left side of the full size bed, making room for an ambling Sakura pushing back her headband keeping away from her face short bangs as she appears in the doorway.

"I finally got Sasuke on Skype," Ino whispers to Sakura off-screen, then waves at the camera on her laptop, while Sakura hops onto the bed to lie down beside her. "Hey, Sasuke."

On her stomach with her feet raised, Sakura smiles alongside Ino. "Hi, Sasuke."

Sasuke makes a low noise in greeting. He crosses his legs in his chair, pressing two keys with his thumb and forefinger to enlarge the window displaying Sakura and Ino on the screen.

"What about me?" Leaning over in front of his laptop sat on the small desk, Naruto drapes an arm over the back of the blue foldable chair Sasuke's sitting in. He pushes up the glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose with a hand bringing the frames closer to his face. "No _hi_, _Naruto_ or _hey, how're you doing_, for your big brother?"

"Move, Naruto," Ino hisses. "Your head takes up too much of the screen. I can't see Sasuke with you in the way."

"What the—"

Sasuke lets out a snort, and Sakura covers her mouth to unsuccessfully hide a giggle.

"Traitor," Naruto mutters, nestling his forehead against Sasuke's shoulder. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"You'll live." With an absent hum, Sasuke places a hand on Naruto's head, gently running his fingers through unruly blond hair. "Unfortunately."

An arm around Sasuke's waist, Naruto chuckles when Sasuke's hand in his hair moves to his face and half-heartedly tries to push him away.

"Get off me, Naruto."

"But you're comfortable."

"I don't care. I'm not your pillow."

"Fine, fine," Naruto says, though he's smiling when he grabs the small and orange office chair he rolls next to Sasuke. The chair turned around, he takes a seat. He folds his arms over the cushioned back of the chair, gaze fixed on the slightly pixelated video of his sisters. "So what's this all about anyway?"

"We wanted to actually see you instead of just calling," Sakura says simply, tilting her head to the side in a cute gesture Naruto knows better than to believe is anything remotely close to innocent. "You've both been so busy lately, it seems. Since your graduation is next month."

"Which we really can't wait for," Ino says, clasping her hands together. "We even bought you a present, Sasuke."

"What about me?" Naruto says, making his presence known with a hand waving at the screen. "You didn't get me anything?"

Ino gives him a blank stare, blinks, then immediately brightens when she focuses on Sasuke again. "Like I was saying," she says, "we even bought you a present, Sasuke."

Sakura laughs at Naruto's dejected expression, bumping her shoulder against Ino's. "Of course we bought something for you, Naruto. Ino had to make sure it was really special. She almost spent two weeks trying to—"

"You're not supposed to say anything, "Ino whispers harshly, nudging Sakura with her elbow, but Sakura takes it in stride with a smile.

"What I meant to say," Sakura says, "was that dad took us shopping for the graduation. For new clothes, too, and we found some really pretty dresses. Only, it's been really hard trying to decide which one I should wear. There's not that much time left, but I still haven't found the right shoes, either, and I don't know if I should get my hair cut or wait until after your graduation, because I'm still thinking about whether or not I should grow it out again—it's all so much to take in at once."

"...uh-huh." Naruto gives a slow nod of his head. "Somehow, I think I should feel more slighted about you placing that much concern in your appearance over me."

"_Anyway_," Ino says, a little too loudly, "Sasuke—Sasuke, guess what my new rank is in our class."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "First?"

"Yep." Grin wide, Ino practically preens, her legs moving back and forth her feet she lifts from the bed. "Because of my math finals, I rank the highest now. I even outscored that annoying Sakai guy, but it's about time someone kicked him off his little pedestal anyway."

"It can't be healthy to be so competitive," Sakura admonishes. "Especially with the way you get with even a hobby as calm as Ikebana club's supposed to be."

"Says the teacher's favourite in the girls' judo club," Ino says, turning to face Sakura with a knowing smirk. "You're probably better than half the guys in the boys' club, too."

Blushing, Sakura fans her face. "I just happen to really like it. That's all it is."

"Yeah, I remember your first tournament." Naruto rolls forward a little in his chair then slides back. Hanging one arm over the back of the chair, he sniffs and wipes at his eye that isn't anything but dry. "And to think I taught you everything you know."

Sakura snorts. "The trophies I have say otherwise."

"Your general lack of coordination in this area is very severe," Ino says. "You trip over air."

Sasuke gives a slight, almost barely perceptible nod in agreement.

Bunching his shoulders, Naruto turns over his raised hands in defeat. "Since you all think it's fun to gang up on me when it's three against one—sure, why not? It's not like these kinds of things can hurt me."

"You know, Sasuke," Ino says, an obvious gleam in her eyes, "although it's nice to finally have a smart, older sibling-like figure I can look up to, sometimes, I really question how smart you can be having agreed to date someone like Naruto."

"Hey—"

"You need to get your frames adjusted," Sasuke says, head slightly tipped back to peer at Naruto. With one finger, he pushes back up the glasses again sliding down Naruto's nose.

"So I do." Cross-eyed, Naruto blinks. "Thanks."

"Despite this obvious shortcoming, though," Sakura says, smile small and gaze soft, "we really do like you."

"Oh—o_h_, speaking of like." Clutching the small and white accent pillow in her arms, Ino turns wide eyes to Sakura. "Tell them what happened after school yesterday, Sakura. Tell them before I have to."

She turns back to Naruto and Sasuke. "You can't just reveal this kind of news over the phone, you know. That's why we—"

"You, really," Sakura throws in.

"—didn't think it'd be enough to just call."

"...as long as it's not bad." Trying to keep his imagination in check, resolved not to let himself think of the worst case scenario, Naruto gives Ino a wary look. "I mean, it's not bad, is it?"

"Something of this magnitude," Ino says, brushing away his concern with a dismissive wave of her hand, "definitely not bad."

Lips pressed together, Sakura tries not to smile, crossing her arms in front of her chest at Naruto's expectant stare. "Oh, well...so, I guess, um, there's this boy I've kind of liked since the beginning of the year," she says, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and ignoring Naruto's squeak of _boy_, _what boy_ that makes Sasuke flinch and glare at him with a _why do you always have to be_ _so loud_. "And he—I suppose he confessed to me."

"Then she said yes," Ino adds before Naruto can open his mouth, a little too excited about the situation. "And now they're going out."

Naruto manages to get in another horrified squeak.

No longer holding back a smile, Sakura picks at the thick purple comforter covering Ino's bed, pink colouring her cheeks. "...I have a boyfriend."

"B-b-boyfriend?" Naruto falters, nearly crashing to the floor trying to avoid the edge of the desk. "You have a _boyfriend_?"

"He has really nice eyes," Ino says. "But he's nothing like you, Sasuke."

"Of course," Sakura says, and Ino repeats what seems to be the consensus between them, "Of course."

Sasuke makes a noncommittal noise.

Bottom lip trembling, Naruto just stares.

"He's somewhat of a dark, mysterious type, I should think," Ino says. "At first I thought he'd be a playboy type, because that's the kind of impression he tends to give around a crowd, but mostly he's just really shy."

Sakura nods. "With that, being a little shy, I can't argue, but he still has a cute personality."

"I'm not hearing this." Nearly throwing himself across Sasuke's lap, Naruto grabs him by both shoulders, using Sasuke as leverage to rotate his chair. "Tell me you're not hearing this. Because I'm not hearing this."

Unfazed, Sasuke forcefully pries away Naruto's fingers digging through his shirt. "I'm hearing it."

"Yeah, he can be cute, I'll give you that," Ino says, a thoughtful look on her face. "Even if he does act like an old man more than half the time. For a guy who's fifteen-going-on-forty, though, he's not a bad catch."

"_Fifteen_," Naruto all but shrieks, tugging on the ends of his hair. "He's _fifteen_."

"So?" Sakura blinks twice. "What's your point?"

"You can't have a boyfriend. That's my point."

Ino frowns. "Why not?"

"You're too young to have a boyfriend." Naruto moves closer to Sasuke again. "Quick, they listen to you. Tell her, Sasuke—tell Sakura she's too young to have a boyfriend."

"You're too young to have a boyfriend," Sasuke says, bored, similar to that tone he sometimes uses whenever he's purposely tuning people out.

Sakura and Ino giggle.

"Yeah, that sounded really convincing." Naruto sucks his teeth. With Sasuke's enthusiasm, he'd think the guy was being forced to watch paint dry. "Like anyone would buy something said with that little conviction—no, you have to _mean_ it when you say it. Like this."

Face close to Sasuke's, Naruto reaches for Sasuke's cheeks. He gently squeezes, pulling up and down to puppet Sasuke's mouth that doesn't open. "Repeat after me," he says, then clears his throat, firm in the attempt to impersonate his mom during one of her rare scolding moods, "Sakura and Ino, you're not allowed to have boyfriends because you're too young to be dating and you're not allowed to grow up without me there."

Sasuke just gives him this highly uninspired look.

"Like that, okay." Naruto gives an encouraging nod, failing to hold back a snicker at the expression on Sasuke's face. "Now you try."

Reaching with two fingers, Sasuke takes a hold of Naruto's nose, pinches his nostrils when Naruto squawks and flails away from him.

Ino snorts, letting go of her pillow and resting her hand against her face. "Don't make such a big deal out of something like this so unnecessarily, Naruto. If we're old enough to stay at home alone, we can have boyfriends."

After Sasuke releases his nose, Naruto narrows his eyes. He points an accusing finger at his sisters. "Who said this?"

"Mom," Ino says, then Sakura adds, "and Dad."

"They did not."

"Did, too," Ino retorts. "You're the only one freaking out about it."

"Plus," Sakura says, "mom even said you had your first girlfriend when you were twelve."

"That was," Naruto sputters. "I mean—because I—so she was a year older, yeah, but I'm a guy, so—"

"_Naruto_..." Shoving her way in front of Ino, Sakura moves closer to take up the entire scope of the camera. She shakes her fist at the screen, movement slowed by the delayed frame rate of the video. "Are you implying I can't have an older boyfriend at fourteen when you had an older girlfriend at twelve just because I'm a _girl_?"

Meek, Naruto actually draws back, almost cowering behind Sasuke. "...no?"

Sasuke snorts.

"Honestly, Naruto." With an exasperated sigh, Sakura lowers her fist and scoots back on the bed, pushing from her elbows. "I'm already fourteen. Ino and I will be in high school next year. We're not kids anymore. More importantly, though..."

She trails off, gains a faraway look with determined eyes almost too intense. Shoulders slightly shaking, she starts to cackle beneath her breath. "The best thing about it is that I managed to get a boyfriend before even Ino."

Sulking, because everyone else seems more than content to disregard his opinion, Naruto murmurs, "Weren't you the one earlier who claimed it wasn't healthy to be so competitive."

"That's because I have more adult tastes than you." With a flick of her wrist, Ino whips back long strands of blonde hair fallen over the side of her face. "Obviously."

Sakura laughs. "Still got a boyfriend before you, didn't I?"

"Bragging about something like that, don't be so immature, Forehead."

Naruto sinks further into his chair, turning pleading eyes to a Sasuke who doesn't even move to comfort him.

Her grin undeterred, Sakura's eyes widen when the silence fills with some song by Perfume, or at least Naruto thinks it sounds like that one girl group Sakura likes. She reaches into the back pocket of her pale blue shorts and takes out a small pink phone, decorated with rhinestones, stickers and a Keroppi charm hanging from the upper left corner.

"Oh, who is it?" Ino says, smile sly and expression far too eager, "I bet it's _him_, isn't it? How bold to call you so soon after he confessed—or is it an email? Either way, you have to take it. Go ahead and message him back."

The phone rings again as Sakura places it on the bed between herself and Ino.

Quickly, Naruto sits up. "You can't take that call."

Lowered gaze fixed on her phone, Sakura absently corrects him. "It's an email."

"Call or email—doesn't matter." Naruto shakes his head. "Ino, even though you're the youngest, I'm officially making you the second oldest, so you can't let Sakura take that call, all right."

Completely ignoring him, Ino turns her gaze from the phone to Sakura, then leans closer to share a conversation of hushed whispers too low to be heard through Naruto's computer.

The conversation is short-lived, though, and they break away when Naruto hears two familiar voices faint in the background.

"Mom and dad must be home," Sakura says with a sweet smile. Following a quick wave of her hand, she hops off the bed, eyes glued to her phone and fingers flying across the touchscreen. "I should probably go reheat dinner for them. See you later, Naruto and Sasuke."

"Sakura, you can't just—"

Placing a hand over Naruto's mouth, Sasuke nods. "Bye, you two."

"Bye, Sasuke," Ino says, fingers reaching for the lid of the laptop. "Please continue to take care of our brother for us."

Naruto takes Sasuke's hand away from his mouth. "Ino, wait, don't—"

The video feed disconnects a few seconds after Ino flips down the screen.

Fingers over the keyboard, Sasuke closes out the programme and reveals the desktop background he constantly keeps changing without permission.

Sighing, Naruto rests his head on Sasuke's shoulder, sagging against him. "...now I think I understand how Itachi feels."

Sasuke grunts. "They have to grow up sooner or later."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Naruto mumbles into Sasuke's shirt. "I can't believe this might mean I have something in common with your brother. Me, of all people, I'm finally able to relate to someone like—" He stills. "You won't tell him about this, will you?"

"About what—your sudden epiphany that children eventually grow older?"

"No, really. What if—"

"You're being melodramatic."

"But you're still going to take care of me, though, right?" Lifting his head, Naruto wriggles his eyebrows. "After all, Ino did ask you."

"Who else would even bother?" Sasuke smirks, straightening the glasses again lying crooked on Naruto's nose before pressing his lips against Naruto's grin turned into a pout.

"_Sasuke_..."


	8. Like Nobody

_"Stop being so insecure about what a guy like that said. It's annoying."_

...

**Like Nobody**

The moment the lights flickered on, they didn't even make it to the couch before Naruto's back hit the drop cloth that did nothing to cushion him from the floor, and then Sasuke was all over him, mouth warm over his, fingers slipping beneath Naruto's shirt, and Sasuke pressing down against him in that way he's always so stingy about but rarely does if only because he knows how much Naruto really likes it.

Even being in such an uncomfortable position, it was enough to make him forget about the inevitable aches that would come back to bite him in the morning. Enough to have him on the verge of seeing stars. Well, it almost had Naruto on the verge of seeing stars. Right before he decided to open his mouth. Because having Sasuke grinding on top of his erection was the perfect time to bring up what Sasuke's cousin said to him at the wedding.

Something about feelings and questioning his ability to fulfil Sasuke's needs, being affected by that kind of perverted guy, it's not his fault he can't stop thinking about it.

But then Sasuke's fingers stop short of actually touching him _down there_, where he actually happens to like touching Naruto a lot, and he heaves the kind of careless sigh with an almost annoyed expression that really shouldn't turn Naruto on so much.

"What?"

"Feelings. I said we should talk about our feelings."

With a snort, Sasuke leans down, slowly pulling down the zipper of Naruto's pants. "Where the hell did this crap suddenly come from?" he breathes, kissing the side of Naruto's mouth.

"N-nowhere...um," Naruto falters, closing his eyes with a moan when Sasuke's hand begins to dip lower, "nowhere special—does it really matter?"

"_Naruto_..." The tips of Sasuke's fingers travel alongside the top of Naruto's inner thigh, and Sasuke hums, blows a thin stream of warm air across Naruto's earlobe. "Where'd you get it from?"

"One of your cousins."

Face hovering over Naruto's, narrowing his eyes, Sasuke stills. "You better not say it was Sai."

To his credit, Naruto doesn't say it was Sai. He just doesn't say it wasn't Sai, either.

Except Sasuke seems to know that it was Sai without Naruto having to say anything.

He sits back on Naruto's legs, one hand retreating to his side and the other curling around an unopened condom he slipped out of his pocket earlier. Wet lips slightly parted, he gives Naruto one of those extremely misleading blank looks, the kind that hasn't really changed from the ones he gave Naruto after they first met. The only difference now is Naruto knows how to pick up on the more subtle expressions on Sasuke's face.

In this one, the unspoken accusation of _idiot_ is a given.

Idiot and moron and loser and stupid and dumbass and so many other names Naruto's lost count of over the years—probably even some in Korean, too—but they're more like pet names rather than the insults they used to throw around.

At least that's how Naruto views his own arsenal of choice words he still calls Sasuke.

"You listened to Sai even after I told you not to."

Supported by his elbows propped on the floor, Naruto sits up. "There's nothing wrong with talking about feelings during something like this."

"Naruto," Sasuke says carefully, "right now, I don't want to hear about your feelings while I'm trying to have sex with you."

"That means you still want to talk about them, right? I mean, not now, because we're doing this, but we can talk about it later."

Sasuke's left eye begins to twitch. "You're only saying that because Sai said something to you about it."

"So?"

"You keep bringing up the same guy you called an asshole because he wouldn't admit he took the piece of cake you claimed he stole from you—"

"—it was the last piece," Naruto says, trying to defend himself, because it was the last piece of a really good cake, would have been his third slice overall not counting the one Sasuke ended up giving him.

"My cousin Sai_—Sai_—you keep bringing him up while I'm trying to have sex with you," Sasuke hisses, both hands on Naruto's shoulders pushing him back down. "You really think that makes me want to have anything to do with you anymore?"

Which is a good point, Naruto has to admit. Bringing up Sai like that definitely wasn't the smartest move on his part, but sometimes it takes him a little while to think through these kinds of things.

"But I really want to share my _feelings_."

Maybe more than a little while.

"Look, either _that_," Sasuke says, punctuating with an especially harsh tug on Naruto's pants and yanking them down to reveal black briefs covering an impressive bulge, "is going inside me right now, or you're _never_ getting the chance to come anywhere near me with it again."

The proverbial record scratch goes off in Naruto's head, and all thoughts about feelings and what Sai insinuated about his relationship with Sasuke are immediately thrown out the window.

To declare that kind of decision so suddenly, Sasuke's being a little too hasty about something that doesn't involve just him.

"W-w-wait a minute—let's think about this, okay."

"There's nothing to think about. Either you want to do it or you don't."

"Oh, come on, that's not fair and you know it. I was just trying to—" But then Sasuke starts to shift back, and it's more important for Naruto to keep Sasuke near him than to finish that train of thought. Muscles in his stomach clenching, he sits up and reaches with hands that settle on Sasuke's sides.

"Trying to what?" Sasuke stops moving and places the condom on the floor. He almost frowns, but it's only one corner of his mouth that turns down a little. "If you don't want to—"

"So what you're really saying is, you just attacked me before I even got a chance to take my shoes off, threw me down on the floor, and now you're going to leave me like this?" Naruto's gaze points to his erection that doesn't exactly look like it's going to die down anytime soon with the way Sasuke's already moving against him. "For the hell of it."

"Maybe." Leaning closer to kiss him, lips almost touching, Sasuke gives Naruto the tiniest little grin instead. "Figure it out yourself."

And that's really not fair, especially considering Sasuke was the one on the plane whispering things like _I'm already clean, so we're having sex when we get home_, which Naruto agreed to with a not so steady _okay_ and a slow nod that later led to Sasuke tackling him as soon as they made it to the entryway.

Not that Naruto could say he minded, since it really didn't feel right to do that kind of thing in Yamaguchi during the wedding. Even if they were staying in a really nice Western style hotel, Sasuke had been too strung-up about seeing his family again for reasons Naruto already knew but Sasuke didn't want to talk about, anyway.

"What do you mean figure it out by my—"

"I warned you Sai's really good at getting under your skin. He thinks it's fun." Letting his arms hang at his sides, Sasuke rests his head over Naruto's shoulder, face turned away from Naruto. "Stop being so insecure about what a guy like that said. It's annoying."

"You say it like it's my fault."

"It is."

"Yeah, well...it's not." Naruto pokes Sasuke in the side. "It's his. He started it."

Sasuke laughs really soft and low, relaxes a little more, and then he breathes. "But I need for you not to be that way around me, Naruto," he whispers, fingers reaching for Naruto's arm around him. "...I don't want you to do that, because you're Naruto."

"Sasuke..."

"And that's all I'll ever need for you to be."

Swallowing, Naruto steadies himself beneath Sasuke's weight lying almost completely against him. He's not dense. No matter how many times Sasuke might like to say it, that doesn't mean it's true.

By his own admission, maybe he's a little slow on the uptake, but he's serious when he needs to be. Better yet, he knows how to read between the lines for the things Sasuke doesn't say. He's good at that.

Really good.

Sasuke lifts his head, pushes away with a hand on Naruto's shoulder that still keeps them close together. "Otherwise," he says, wearing another one of those bland expressions, then slowly, that teasing kind of stuck-up smirk he likes to throw around too much starts to come back. "I won't be doing this with you anymore."

It's because he knows Sasuke's not being serious that Naruto grins back, laughs and doesn't let himself stop grinning even if he's not ready to let go of Sasuke yet. He lowers his back to the floor again, pulls Sasuke down with him, and they just lie there for a few seconds.

Sasuke snorts, then finally cracks a smile, but Naruto can't stop looking up at him with this ridiculously dopey grin he doesn't know what else to do with.

His hand plays with the stands of hair at Naruto's nape, and gently, Sasuke tugs. "That good enough for you?"

"...yeah," Naruto tries to say, tries not to feel like he's being swallowed whole by Sasuke's mouth crushing against his. Because the kiss is rough, wholly demanding and unyielding, but it's still reassuring in a way that's all Sasuke, and Naruto finds himself closing his eyes, arm around Sasuke's waist pulling Sasuke flush against him. "I can get behind that."


	9. Mad About You

_**Guest:** Thanks for reading. ^^;;_

_..._

_"I don't know why it's always so hard for you to admit how much you really like my sideburns. I never said it was a bad thing, you know."_

...

**Mad About You**

"Naruto."

"Hm?"

"On your chin, is that—is that stubble?"

"You finally noticed, huh—yeah, I'm letting it grow out. What do you think?"

"..."

"Don't laugh at me, you jerk."

"You're trying to grow facial hair."

"And? What's wrong with that? Lots of guys have facial hair. Matter of fact, Shikamaru's had facial hair since forever. You never said anything about him. Why am I suddenly so different?"

"First of all, he's Shikamaru. Facial hair suits a guy like him. Second of all, you're you."

"So?"

"You're _you_."

"What about my sideburns then?"

"Your sideburns don't count."

"Why not?"

"Because for some reason you actually think you can grow facial hair when you've never been able to do so before."

"I don't know why it's always so hard for you to admit how much you really like my sideburns. I never said it was a bad thing, you know."

"Don't smile so freely about something like that. I've already told you I couldn't care less about your sideburns."

"Yeah, with the way you like to touch them, right—you're just jealous because you can't show off your manliness with a beard. Unlike me."

"I don't want facial hair."

"Che. I bet you'll change your mind when you see how amazing my beard will be."

"That peach fuzz will never grow in. Just like you'll never be taller than me."

"Two centimetres, Sasuke—_two centimetres_."

"Two centimetres more than you'll ever have."

"...whatever. I still say you're just jealous about not being able to grow hair on your face. Because that's always been an important part of being a man. Obviously."

"Sure, Naruto. Never mind the fact your dad isn't able to grow facial hair, either."

"You're surprisingly hairy down below, though."

"...and you'd pay attention to that sort of thing, wouldn't you."

"I wouldn't let you expect anything less from me."


	10. Middle of Somewhere

_This thing dragged on seemingly forever and turned into a soppy mess not wanted, but I just let it go. It's the story behind Sasuke's somewhat serious grudge in Give and Take, because he thought Naruto stood him up on their first official date. Something like that. I think. I don't know anymore._

...

_"Admit it. You were worried about me."_

...

**Middle of Somewhere**

Sasuke doesn't think of himself as a superstitious person. He doesn't put credence into things like fate or happenstance, because he'd rather believe he still has the ability to create his own choices, whether he ends up making them or not, so it's ridiculous to even mull over the idea that the faint smell of grease he can't seem to get rid of has anything to do with why Naruto hasn't shown up yet.

Spending time in a restaurant kitchen, the lingering smell of food comes with the territory. Or maybe he's just imagining it. Berating himself over something so mundane, so trivial that Naruto wouldn't even notice how much soap he'd used to scrub away the pervading reminder of work that clung to his skin through his uniform, it's useless to fall into that sort of thinking.

So Sasuke stops.

He unclenches his hands instead, makes fists in the pockets of his light jacket it's still probably too warm for. Sitting on this bench for so long, though, his arms somehow feel cold in the humidity making his skin tingling almost feel numb. His knuckles brush against the thin lining, and his fingers being to curl around the smooth material. He takes out his hands, rubs them against the outside of his jacket, then stuffs them back into his pockets since he can't decide where else to put them.

He's not nervous. Considering it was his idea to visit Shibaura, there's nothing to be nervous about. Moreover, meeting by the train station like this, despite being in a context outside of friendship, it's not so different from seeing each other after class or stopping by the Green Hall to grab breakfast following Naruto's morning runs he sometimes agreed to go on—the kinds of things they happened to do on a regular basis.

Aside from the more serious undertones the consequence of a kiss that had been a deliberate catalyst on his part, it should be a nonissue. It is a nonissue. Because he's neither nervous nor worried nor in any state of mind that would make him question the rationale behind what the hell possessed him to think asking Naruto out on a date was ever a good idea.

It could simply be his own misgivings, that nagging uncertainty he's been trying to compensate with bravado all this time. Despite the credence he doesn't lend to hopeless notions like happenstance, he's allowed himself to place a frightening amount of confidence in Naruto. And it scares him to realise the depth of that influence. It scares him to know he's become comfortable around Naruto with an intensity he can't fully grasp, but no matter how much he wants to deny it, of all the times to second-guess himself, of all the people to instil within him even the slightest doubt, nearly half an hour since arriving at the platform, like a fool, he's still waiting for Naruto to come.

With a sigh, he lets his shoulders sag. He widens the stance of his legs, knees pointing outward and feet flat on the ground, sinking against the wooden bench making his back stiff. The phone inside the pocket of his pants feels heavy pressing into his leg, continues to remain silent even though Sasuke took it out of manner mode after getting off the train.

He hasn't seen Naruto since this morning, hasn't heard from him aside from the message he received while Naruto was leaving his last class and heading to the used camera shop where he works.

That was six hours ago. He's already tried calling Naruto once, twice—maybe three or four times in a couple of successions. Still, he tells himself he'll give it a few more minutes. It hasn't been too long. A little more than thirty minutes at most, closer to a quarter till when he almost risks checking his phone again. But there's no reason for Naruto to be late. He should have been here before him.

Although Sasuke's shift at Mosu ended before Super Camera closed, the camera shop's closer to Minato, which, for the most senseless reason, motivated Naruto's insistence on meeting him in Shibaura straight from work.

_Pretending to meet each other for the first time like that, it'll be more romantic, _he'd said with a shameless smile, showing off the date on his phone calendar marked by excessively cutesy facemarks, _like the kind of thing that happens in all those popular TV dramas_.

He could be such an annoying guy, being so direct about that kind of thing, but he'd been looking forward to it all week, teasing Sasuke about their date with little reminders more embarrassing than his suggestion to meet outside Shibaura Station separately.

Yet for all his professed anticipation, there's still no sign of Naruto.

And Sasuke waits.

He takes his hands out of his pockets, sniffs, wrinkling his nose when the guy on the other side of the bench they're sharing together alone reaches for another cigarette. It's the second one since he'd taken a seat next to Sasuke, the last one in his pack, and for the second time, he makes a silent offer to Sasuke first.

Unlit cigarette in hand, his arm extends beneath the splay of light from the street lamp overhead occupying the space between them. Despite his uncommonly strong features, his eyes noticeably green are surprisingly soft, maybe even a little too sympathetic for a stranger, but again Sasuke declines with a slight shake of his head.

The guy shrugs, withdrawing his arm. With his right thumb, he flips open the lid of a plain metal lighter, rotates the flint wheel to create the steady flame he brings close to the cigarette held in his mouth. He takes a couple of puffs, turning red the end of the cigarette that glows and begins to smoulder.

The lighter's snapped shut with an audible clink. Holding it between two fingers, with a practiced ease, he rolls it back and forth. He stops, letting the lighter rest on top of his knuckles, then catches it in the palm of his hand quickly turned over.

Fingers curling around the lighter, he throws his right arm over the back of the bench, crossing one leg over the other. He inhales, long and deep, slowly taking away from his mouth the cigarette he holds close to his cheek. Tilting his head back, he closes his eyes, blows a thin wisp of smoke at the sky.

Sasuke takes a hand out of his pocket, placing it over his phone he forces himself to leave alone. Not one for small talk, he settles into another stretch of silence, tries to ignore the almost sickeningly sweet smell of the guy's cigarette smoke.

Normally, he wouldn't care. The prevalence of it aside, he's pretty indifferent to that sort of thing considering he doesn't personally know many people who do smoke.

His mom and dad did when they were younger, long before he was born, and occasionally they've delved back into the habit. Apart from them, there's Shikamaru and one of Itachi's friends who always seemed to have some form of tobacco at hand whenever Sasuke saw him. Kisame, he remembers, the guy who used to dye his hair blue that Itachi met through grad school.

Once, during one of the weekends Sasuke used to spend at his brother's condo, Kisame left a pack of cigarettes on the counter of the kitchen bar. Despite the fact he'd been underage, Sasuke helped himself to one. It was only out of curiosity. Nothing more. Nothing less. The experience didn't really make him care for it, though, and he ended up throwing the cigarette away after a few bouts of coughing that made his eyes water.

However, while the smell of smoke starts to become a little off-putting, he's not irritated so much as he is anxious when he accidentally slips his phone out of his pocket.

But he doesn't look at it. He doesn't venture to do anything with the phone. The darkened screen turned facedown, he just holds it.

He looks up at the sound of soft laughter, fingers around the phone loosening then tightening again when he sees a small group coming down from the station's elevated platform. It's a couple of girls, probably in high school judging by their pleated skirts and tailored jackets. Although why they're still wearing uniforms this late at night, it's not his business. Neither does he care. All that matters is none of them is Naruto.

As long as he's been waiting, there haven't been too many people passing through. Even during the commuter rush hours of the week, traffic is moderate and seemingly nonexistent during the weekend. This area of Shibaura's one of those quieter spots not so rare in Tokyo, across the street from its small namesake station tucked below the highway. In this kind of place, the impression it gives is more transient than anything else, which is what initially drew Sasuke to this part of Minato.

Suigetsu brought him here last year. After he found out one of his professors created a couple of the seated statutes scattered around Tokyo, he wanted to replicate one on a smaller scale as a clay sculpture for an assignment in his independent study class.

He only dragged Sasuke and Karin along because he couldn't decide by himself which one to choose. It turned into an all day scavenger hunt that left Sasuke cranky and Karin exasperating in her many outward displays of how much more fulfilling it was to major in graphic design. Of course that led to a far too cheerful Suigetsu retaliating with threats to do things better left unsaid to Karin's collection of boy band memorabilia courtesy of his favourite knife set she'd bought for his birthday the month before.

Although being stuck between those two was something Sasuke learned to actively avoid, the trip wasn't a complete waste. He discovered Shibaura for the first time, and it soon became a place he'd come to visit pretty often.

On occasion, he'd end up here and find himself walking along the Shinshibaura Canal. Sometimes he'd come for inspiration, gradually adding to a sketchbook dedicated solely to the scattered gardens that made him think of Naruto more than once or twice, but mostly because it was somewhat of a retreat whenever he needed somewhere to go that wasn't home back in Yamaguchi. Take a train, usually during the day if he was free and while the walkways along the canal were relatively bare, he'd let himself get lost in the relaxing atmosphere of Shibaura a little less fast-paced than the general ambience that made up most of Minato.

Like his former hiding place when he was six unknown to even his brother, it's one of those finds he preferred to keep to himself. It's a place he's able to call his own. Untainted by childish insecurities he still doesn't know how to leave behind, it's the kind of escape he's never told anyone about until his decision to tell Naruto. But when he'd asked Naruto out on a date, it only made sense he wanted to share that part of himself. So, while they were planning a set time and day between classes and conflicting work schedules, he brought up the idea of going to Shibaura.

Peering at Sasuke from over the rim of his cup ramen, Naruto slurped the noodles wrapped around the chopsticks held in his hand. "You want to go there—to Minato?" he said. "Really?"

A slight twitch to Sasuke's lips almost became a frown. "What's wrong with Minato?"

"Nothing." Naruto shook his head, swallowing the food in his mouth. "I don't mind going where you want to go. It's just that Minato's my dad's name, so it's kind of weird knowing we're going to have our first real official date someplace like that."

"I don't want to go to Shibaura because your dad's name is Minato."

"Right, right, that's not what I'm saying. Although it's kind of funny, too," Naruto said, "since sometimes I forget me and my dad share our names with cities. I don't think we were named after them, though."

"I doubt it."

"Heh. I've never been to Tokushima myself, but maybe I'll take you to the Great Naruto Bridge one day so we can watch the Naruto whirlpools together."

It was a pun, a really bad pun playing on Naruto's full name taken from his mom's side, and Sasuke snorted at the ridiculously corny attempt at a joke.

Naruto just grinned. "We could even visit the Otsuka Museum. Seeing all those famous Western paintings, you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Shifting on the bench, Sasuke allows himself to smile a little, the left corner of his mouth curling up just the slightest bit, but the reminiscence is brief, broken by the sound of the guy sitting next to him beginning to stand, and Sasuke grunts at the weight of the phone in his hand reminding him Naruto still isn't here.

The guy takes a prolonged inhale, finishing the last of his cigarette with a final puff of smoke released into the air. He buries the butt of the cigarette in his palm and checks the watch on his right wrist before pocketing his lighter. A final glance tossed at Sasuke, the guy gives a slight nod then heads across the narrow street.

He stops by the vending machine selling cigarettes, ironically only a few metres from the pavement sign in front of the station entrance designating the platform as a non-smoking zone.

Tearing away his gaze, Sasuke risks checking his phone for what he tries to convince himself is the last time.

He turns it over in his hand. His thumb hovers above the number two button of the onscreen keypad, hesitant to press down and hold the seemingly hundredth time for Naruto's number on speed dial. Each attempt so far sent him straight to voice mail. If Naruto hadn't answered ten minutes ago, there's no reason to believe he'd answer now, but Sasuke holds on to the phone a little while longer, presses the top volume button on the side when the screen fades to black.

21:37 becomes 21:38. Again, the numbers of the clock begin to disappear. The screen darkens. The fingers of his hand over his lap begin to unfurl, leave the phone lying flat in his palm, and Sasuke shoves it back into the front pocket of his pants.

Then he continues to wait.

It's crossed his mind to leave. He's thinking about it again now. He just doesn't act on it. Tells himself instead like he's told himself too many times tonight already, he'll give it a few more minutes, like the previous few that inevitably accumulated to the hour that's passed.

He snorts, almost laughs when he thinks of the soap he can smell beneath the lingering odour from that guy's tobacco, yet here he is, still sitting on this bench like an idiot because some stupid part of him won't stop believing Naruto's going to come.

But going out on a date, it's a reasonable enough thing to do. Or at least it seemed to be at the time.

Since the beginning, their relationship had always teetered on the side of unconventional. From the way they met to how close they grew through an arguably somewhat dysfunctional friendship that somehow managed to bring them even closer, nothing about them should have worked. Yet something did. Something does. However, somewhere along the line, simply being friends no longer applied.

There was an underlying tension neither of them had been in a particular rush to openly acknowledge. Eventually, though, Sasuke decided to make the first move and began trying to push Naruto toward the possibility of sharing the kind of relationship beyond the connotations of dating that didn't quite cover the extent of what he had in mind.

Initially, he'd been reserved, if not even a little apprehensive, because it was a situation he admittedly didn't have much experience in. Until he discovered how well his usual subtlety wasn't working in his favour. For someone as consciously obtuse as Naruto could be at times, at least when he wanted to appear that way, nothing short of a figurative brick upside his head could get through to him.

But that first kiss on the couch soon provoked accepted unexpected kisses Naruto used to catch him off guard, developed into experimental touching with wandering hands disappearing beneath clothes sliding up flustered skin, became an invitation for Naruto to sneak into his bed that shouldn't fit two adults just to monopolise the blanket he preferred to replace with himself whenever Sasuke felt generous enough not to kick him out.

Other than the novelty of a few more physical aspects, though, as backwards as their nonlinear approach to whatever it is between them came to be notwithstanding, the basic nature of their relationship hadn't really changed. But last week, after a study session for quarter exams that would follow frequent all-nighters sharing the takeout from Sukiya they probably eat too much of, Sasuke proposed going on a date.

The way it came out, so spur of the moment, it was such an impulsive thing to suggest, the kind of expression more characteristic of Naruto that Sasuke would rather not do. Except Naruto didn't hesitate to say yes, wearing an exceedingly boyish grin that left Sasuke torn between hitting him and kissing him to wipe off the annoyingly pleased look on his face.

Yet around someone like Naruto, someone who has the ability to affect him to such a degree, there isn't much Sasuke can be sure about. He's left struggling with an uncertainty that's almost debilitating. It's as if he's grasping for something with Naruto that may not be there, and it's already resulted in the sort of reckless behaviour he usually tries to avoid.

Yearning for that closeness grown between them, the lengths he's gone working to sustain the constant in his life Naruto's become, he's never felt like this about anyone before.

It's overwhelming most of the time. Too often it's all consuming. Too many times he's felt too much happened too soon. And sometimes, he wishes he never met Naruto. Sometimes, he wishes he could have fallen for anyone else in the world, but he already knows there's no one else it could be, because it's Naruto who's managed to crawl under his skin, Naruto who understands him in a way few people do—Naruto who can make him feel so damn hopeless with that one look in his eyes just enough to convince Sasuke this thing they have isn't some fluke or coincidence, and maybe he's not as much of the idiot he undoubtedly is still waiting for—

"Sasuke!"

His head snaps up to the direction of that voice familiar unnecessarily loud. It comes again, Naruto calling his name, and Sasuke catches a glimpse of blond hair through the small crowd leaving the platform of the station.

A little too eager, he stands, lets one foot move ahead of the other. He doesn't stray far from the bench, though. Nerves that won't settle he tries to hold at bay with his arms at his sides, hiding his hands in the pockets of his jacket once more. He takes another step or two. Then one more. Makes it far enough to meet the gaze of blue eyes searching that immediately calm when Naruto finds him, eyes that become noticeably relieved as Naruto runs towards him, but Sasuke just stands there, uncurling his fingers digging into his palm and releasing the breath he didn't realise he was holding that catches in his throat when Naruto stops in front of him.

"...hey." Bending over, Naruto takes quick, shallow breaths, resting his hands on his knees. His overall appearance is dishevelled, with his hair messier than usual and his name tag from work pinned crookedly on his shirt partially tucked into his pants.

It's a little unexpected, for someone in his shape, but he just lifts his head and sends Sasuke an uncharacteristically diffident smile. He draws out another breath that seems too long then suddenly stands upright with only a slight slouch of his shoulders. "You're still here."

Sasuke schools his face. He's as nonchalant as he can pretend to be, doing his best to ignore the lingering irritation building beneath the uncertainty he refuses to let Naruto see. "...you're late."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I—"

"You're more than an hour late."

"I know, Sasuke. I know." Naruto tries to smile again, tries to lift the mood despite his guilt-ridden expression that doesn't do the least to sway Sasuke. "I'm sorry I'm late, but there was a really long delay, so I tried to get around it on the Samatsu Line, except I got off on the wrong stop at first, and then I kind of, um..."

"You what?"

"I kind of got lost?"

Taking a breath, Sasuke lowers his gaze he then slowly raises. He faces Naruto with a blank stare, the kind of intent look that's more or less become a wordless rhetorical question he gives Naruto far too often. Although whether it's truly reserved for Naruto or a projected response to himself for still willingly associating with Naruto, at this point, it's a tossup. "You got lost on the Samatsu Line."

Sheepish, Naruto chuckles, hand reaching for the back of his neck he rubs his fingers against.

"Never mind you've been using it for the last two years, a three year old can navigate that line. What—was it too complicated to follow the colours on the map? You said you knew how to get here."

"It's not like I was trying to get lost, all right. On the way, I missed the transfer that crossed with Yurikamome, so I took the Yokosuka Line instead, but then it was too late when I realised it only ran under Shibaura and didn't stop here, and I had to backtrack because I thought I was going to end up all the way in Kanagawa."

"You could have at least called me to let me know. You didn't even pick up when I tried to call you."

"I wanted to call you. I did. But my phone died on me because I forgot to charge it last night."

"And you didn't think to ask someone to borrow their phone? You didn't even think about using a payphone? Somehow it just slipped your mind you could use your Suica as a telephone card?"

"No, I—well, I didn't think about that. But I was trying to get here as fast as I could, because I wanted to think you'd still be here. I wasn't trying to—"

"Shut up, Naruto." Resigned, Sasuke sighs, reluctant and heavy. He knows Naruto didn't mean to be late. Rarely does this kind of thing happen with Naruto and only when he's especially anxious. The wallet he has a habit of not taking with him aside, neglecting something simple like keeping his phone charged, Naruto's usually not so distracted.

Still, as relieved as he is to know nothing serious happened to Naruto, all that worrying over such an irresponsible guy, Sasuke can't help but feel like an idiot. "With all those excuses, you sound worse than Kakashi."

"I didn't..." Naruto looks down at his outlandishly bright red shoes, scuffing the white toe of his right foot against the concrete of the sidewalk. "I didn't think, okay. I just...didn't. And I'm sorry. Even if it doesn't mean much right now, I'm sorry—I am. I only wanted to..."

"What?"

"...this didn't go anything like I planned. All the things I thought it was going to be," Naruto says, lifting his head to meet Sasuke's gaze, "I even convinced the old man to let me off early, because Inari came by the shop to finish up helping with inventory, so I thought..."

Sasuke takes his hands out of his pockets. One arm still held at his side, the fingers of his other hand run through his hair. "We already live together. Doing this kind of thing, it shouldn't make a difference."

"But it does, Sasuke. It makes a difference because you wanted to do it. We've never done this sort of thing before, so taking the time to try something like this, knowing you really wanted to bring me here to show me this place that's important to you—the last thing I wanted to do was mess this up."

Naruto laughs a little, low and strained. "Well, I'm still hoping I didn't mess this whole thing up. I mean, I want to make this work. I do. Only, I really need for you not to let me go just yet, okay."

"...you shouldn't make that kind of assumption on your own. Not over something like this, Naruto." With another sigh, Sasuke reaches with two fingers to massage his left temple. "I just..."

"I didn't mean to make you worry like that, Sasuke."

Sasuke's hand drops to his side. The corner of his mouth turns down. "Who said I was worried?"

"Uh, when I got here, you looked worried enough to me." Naruto pauses then adds with a quick series of nods, "Yeah, you looked pretty worried."

"I wasn't."

"You sure?"

"Naruto..."

"You don't have to make it out to be such a bad thing, you know," Naruto says, with the sort of laidback smile easy to come that's never slow to spread across his face. "I even think it's kind of cute, since I don't really get a chance to see you like this."

Sasuke purses his lips, not giving him the satisfaction of a response. He knows Naruto's not trying to mock him. He knows Naruto means well, but at a time like this, that Naruto can make light of the situation so easily, taking advantage of a concern almost painfully obvious despite Sasuke's denial, as frustrating as Naruto sometimes claims him to be, Naruto could always find a way to be that much more aggravating.

"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto says, almost sings with a near falsetto grating on Sasuke's ears, "we both know you were."

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke tries to sidestep him, but Naruto anticipates the move, already in front of him again when Sasuke pivots on the heel of his foot.

Hands clasped behind his back nearly flat, Naruto leans over. He peers up at Sasuke's lowered face with his head cocked to the side. The smile still there widens into a playful grin that shouldn't make him look so incredibly pleased.

But it's also the kind of grin that makes Sasuke's stomach heavy and his chest too tight when he takes in a breath hitched too fast, makes him all too susceptible to the thought of losing the way Naruto looks only at him, so he swallows hard the possibility, draws back from blue eyes that know him too well, eyes that always manage to see through all the things he doesn't know how to just say, because Sasuke still doesn't know if he'll ever understand how merely _being_ around Naruto can reduce him to feeling this self-consciously bare.

"Admit it. You were worried about me."

"There's nothing to admit. Worrying about a moron like you?" Sasuke scoffs. "Forget it. I wouldn't bother wasting my time."

Clenching his fists, he turns around, back facing Naruto. The distance begins to stretch between them. Long strides purposely deliberate begin to take Sasuke further away, yet for once, Naruto doesn't come after him. This time, he doesn't need to. It's Sasuke who doesn't allow himself to get too far.

He stops near the edge of the sidewalk. Heavy footsteps behind him hit the pavement. Closer, they grow louder, and Sasuke takes a deep breath, listening to Naruto bridge the gap only a few steps keeping them apart.

Fingers warm that make his skin tingle wrap around Sasuke's arm. He doesn't let his gaze stray from the column of the street lamp ahead to Naruto standing beside him, but neither does he pull away from the thumb brushing along the inside of his wrist.

"Sasuke, you..." A sober expression turns sharp blue eyes once teasing. Teeth sliding across the corner of his bottom lip, almost reluctant, Naruto releases Sasuke's arm. "...you really were worried, weren't you?"

"That something could have happened to you? That you changed your mind and you weren't going to come? I don't know. I thought you..." Looking down, Sasuke gives a few small shakes of his head. He stares at Naruto's red shoes ridiculously bright, sneers and shuts his eyes, arms held stiff at his sides.

"Damn it, Naruto, you just—I don't know what I was thinking. Getting so hung up over a stupid loser like you who doesn't even know how to—"

The hand reaching for the side of his face lifts his head, guides him forward, and Sasuke's eyes shoot open at the slight pressure of full lips pressed against his own.

He almost stumbles back, but the fingers from Naruto's other hand are firm behind his neck, tickling his skin, urging Sasuke closer with a steady touch he leans into without thinking. Slowly, he raises his hand tense between them, clutches the bottom of Naruto's shirt gathered within curled fingers becoming lax as his eyes begin to close.

He shudders in the haze of warmth he's come to instinctively associate with Naruto, lets himself go, lets himself just breathe at the fingers gently kneading the base of his neck. Absently, he tugs on the thin material soft in his palm. His grip tightens at Naruto's murmur of _I'm sorry_ against the corner of his mouth, but the hand held against his neck slides to settle on his shoulder, falls away like the hand held against his cheek.

Too careful, Naruto moves to pull back. Too soon, Sasuke opens his eyes.

He blinks at the halo of light from the street lamp above them. It takes a second or two for his eyes to adjust, and he watches Naruto with a lack of focus he blames on the light. Languid, his fingers begin to loosen, gradually release their hold on Naruto's shirt, and Sasuke blinks again when he finally lets go.

Naruto takes another step away. He laughs a little, pushes back the hair over his forehead then clears his throat. "...wow."

Closing his mouth slightly parted, Sasuke continues to stare. As unpredictable as Naruto tends to be, however straightforward the kind of resolute guy it seems he can't help but be, doing something like that outside the train station, practically in the middle of street, honestly, Sasuke doesn't know what to say.

It's the kind of thing Naruto just does. The kind of thing he still doesn't know why he lets Naruto do to him.

Yet in this moment, even if it's simply the fact that Naruto's here, that Naruto wants to be here, making such a scene in public, Sasuke doesn't know if he can bring himself to care. But knowing he can have this kind of effect on Naruto, too, maybe that makes it okay.

"Can't believe I actually just did that, but um..." Naruto brushes the back of his hands against his clothes. He rubs the heel of his palm against the side of his pants, tries to avoid the undecided gazes of the few passersby around them.

A young woman crosses the street near them. She averts a curious stare Naruto catches and returns with a half-hearted wave of his hand. Lowering her head, she gives a soft apology overtly polite, but she doesn't approach them. She keeps her distance then walks away.

Eyebrows furrowed, Naruto frowns, fumbling for his next words. "Shit, I..."

Sasuke licks his lips, ignoring the handful of onlookers who finally begin to leave. "...you kissed me."

"Yeah, I—I'm sorry. I know you don't like that kind of thing, attracting that kind of attention. But what I said before about you waiting for me, I don't want you to think I was making fun of you for that. I didn't mean to take it so far.

"It's just that I'm kind of really nervous about this whole thing, too." Head tilted a little to the side, he gives a sort of half smile tentative and somewhat uneven that he doesn't let completely falter. "You know how I get when I'm like that. What it does to me. So it's not that I'm not taking this seriously—because I am. And I need you to know that because I don't want you to think that I'm not."

Sasuke pulls on the end of his sleeve, rubs the ribbed hem caught between two fingers.

"That you did wait for me, even though I took too long." Naruto blushes, stares at the ground with this soft kind of dopey smile he aims back at Sasuke.

"It...it means a lot to me, Sasuke. Really, it does. So wherever we're supposed to go with this, I'm willing to go as far as we can. Probably more than that. Because you—I guess what I'm trying to say is, earlier, when I said I need for you not to let me go, I really meant I don't think I'll be able to let you go. And that's...that's why I'm glad you let me find you."

Sasuke looks to the side, gaze landing on the bench he spent an hour sitting on. His fingers fall from his sleeve. He sighs and closes his eyes, giving himself another moment before he opens them again. "...you talk too much."

"You can be such a bastard, you know that." Mouth drawn tight, Naruto squints, manoeuvres in front of Sasuke in an attempt to stare him down, but then he starts to laugh, loud and obnoxious yet somehow still comforting to Sasuke's ears. "Making me confess to that kind of embarrassing thing. And then you completely ignore it. Does that mean you don't accept it?"

Sasuke hums with a slight nod raising his chin. He watches Naruto circle around him to stand by his side. "Should I?"

"You already know what I'm going to say." Lightly, Naruto nudges Sasuke's shoulder with his own. "But really, since we're already here, it's not too late, is it? We're still good to walk around this place?"

"It's a waste of time to go back home after coming all this way."

"That a yes?"

"I'm not saying no."

"Which means yes, right?"

"It means you owe me."

"Hehe, you say that like it's something new."

"Dinner's on you tonight."

"Yosh." Making a muscle, Naruto curls his arm held level with his shoulder. He slaps a hand over his bicep, grins that incredibly stupid determined grin Sasuke needs to learn how to permanently knock off his face. "Leave it to me."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke begins to walk along the edge of the sidewalk. He doesn't look back, but it doesn't take Naruto long to catch up, quickly settling into a pace right beside Sasuke.

"There's a Yoshinoya or something around here, right?" Naruto says, stretching above his head his arms he then crosses behind his neck. "If there's a Coco Ichiban, I'll treat us to curry. Then we can share one of those really big plates and take the rest home."

Sasuke arches an eyebrow. "Sure you can actually afford it?"

"For a guy like you," Naruto says, "you're surprisingly cheap, you know."

Despite the kind of comfortable exposure he had when he was younger, Sasuke considers himself a pretty pragmatic person. It's a familial influence he does appreciate, but he just shrugs off Naruto's words, letting his thumbs slip into the front pockets of his pants.

"It doesn't take much," he admits, tries to be more casual than he actually feels when he catches Naruto staring at him.

But the light reflected in Naruto's eyes makes them gleam, makes them appear a little too earnest, and they only seem to soften when he whispers, "Lucky for me then, huh?"

With a breath taken long and slow, Sasuke turns away, exhales. He keeps his gaze straight ahead as they near the walkway of the pier overlooking Shinshibaura Canal. In the distance he can make out the lights of the Rainbow Bridge, lamps red, white, and green strewn the length illuminating the bridge connecting Shibaura and Odaiba.

Again, Naruto nudges him, trying to hold back a smile, and Sasuke swallows as his fingers curl into his palms. "...depends."

"On what?"

"Where's your wallet?"

Eyes growing wide, Naruto stills beneath a street lamp near the railing of the canal. His hands slap against his thighs, and he scrambles trying to pat down his jeans.

Sasuke stops beside him, offering an unhelpful snort with a slight tilt of his head. He watches Naruto pull out a small ring of three keys, some lint, a thin black phone, two pieces of severely wrinkled paper folded into haphazard shapes, and a Suica card it takes him a few attempts to yank free.

"I, uh—" Naruto flushes, looks down at his hands full then back up to meet Sasuke's eyes. His lips pressed together still aren't able to hold back the sheepish laughter that escapes through a grin. "I guess I forgot it at home."

Reaching into his back pocket, Sasuke pulls out the well worn wallet Naruto somehow managed to leave on the bathroom sink this morning. He waves it by the corner pinched between his forefinger and thumb, teasing Naruto when he pulls the wallet back out of reach, but he shares with him the kind of smile that's probably a little more fond than he'd rather admit.

"Looking for this?"


	11. Sweet Like Lemonade

_It's been a while again, but thank you for the reads and reviews. I've been cleaning house and fell so far behind; I don't even know where to start._

...

_"I highly doubt I couldn't live without you."_

...

**Sweet Like Lemonade**

"You and Suigetsu had a...thing?"

Sasuke nods, outwardly nonchalant but not oblivious to Naruto's discomfort that's probably a little too apparent. Sat on the floor, he crosses his legs and reaches for the large pile of clean clothes in front of him and Naruto.

"But what about him and Karin? I thought they..."

"Happened during our first year, before she transferred to Tama. It was just a physical relationship, though. Didn't even last for more than a couple of months."

"...oh, that's..." Naruto chews on his lower lip, picking up one of Sasuke's shirts from on top of the pile. "That's why you never minded him being so close. You're usually more," he says, making a slight gesture with his head, "you know."

Sasuke gives an absent hum. He places a folded pair of Naruto's dark jeans in the empty space beside him. "Like I said, it was a long time ago."

"...long before me and you, right?"

"Long before us, Naruto." Sasuke snatches a shirt Naruto grabs from the pile, the light grey shirt with the somewhat manic looking smiley face Naruto still refuses to get rid of. "Don't put so much thought into something like that. You'll hurt yourself."

"Ha ha," Naruto says wryly. "You're so funny I forgot to laugh."

"Why the sudden interest in what happened between us anyway?"

Naruto shrugs, looking to his right, away from Sasuke. "I don't know. When we went out drinking for your birthday, what Suigetsu said about you being really sensitive _there_, you know, that spot I thought I only knew about, it made me start to look back at things differently. I mean, I know he was joking, so I'm not upset or anything like that. Not really. It's just...I wonder why I didn't see it before."

"A number of reasons. Mainly because you weren't looking for it, and we weren't obvious about it. Unlike a certain someone I know."

"I don't have to turn around to know you're staring at me. I can _feel_ you accusing me with your eyes."

Sasuke throws a pair of socks aimed at the back of Naruto's head. "Feel that, too?"

Naruto turns back to face Sasuke, but the playful grin Sasuke expects isn't there. "Sasuke..."

With a sigh, Sasuke picks up another pair of Naruto's jeans to fold. "You really want to exchange a list of all the people we've been with?"

"...I didn't say that."

"You may as well have. It's not like you and I were on good terms then. We didn't even know each other, and I really didn't like you."

"Way to be blunt," Naruto says, but he looks at Sasuke with one of his softer smiles. "I thought you just really liked to hold grudges."

Sasuke snorts, almost catching himself returning Naruto's smile with a small one of his own. "Of course, there's always that, too."

Slowly, Naruto's expression begins to sober. "Why didn't you say anything about it before, though?"

"You never asked."

"And how was I supposed to have known to ask?"

"What—you think this is something I should have told you at the first opportunity?"

Again, Naruto looks away, making an attempt to fold a thin shirt that just ends up balled in his hand.

"Would it have made that much of a difference if you knew? Would you have let a fling I had with Suigetsu before you even really knew me affect you to that extent?"

"No." Naruto frowns, unfurling the shirt in his hand he then spreads out on the floor. "I guess not. But still..."

Sasuke reaches with a finger and thumb to gently pull on Naruto's cheek. "You really are such a baby. Who knows why I still like you so much."

"Because you know you can't live without me?" Naruto gives his best pout, which, unfortunately for him, Sasuke's more than used to by now.

"I highly doubt I couldn't live without you."

"Coming up with that kind of response so quickly, are you trying to make me feel better or worse?"

With another sigh, following another gentle pull, Sasuke allows his hand to fall from Naruto's cheek. He leans against him, closing his eyes and resting his head on Naruto's shoulder. "...doesn't mean I'd be willing to try."


	12. That's All the Words I Know

_This one takes place during their first year at Tama, about a month after "the stick incident" when Naruto and Sasuke first met, which I will finish one day. __For now, I'll just say I really like my Sasuke and Naruto to both be kind of bratty. _

_Also, Tobio's the guy who pushed Naruto into Sasuke in canon, so I wanted to do that here, too. As for the whole Himiko-bastard thing, Himiko is this highly debated about obscure shaman queen from ancient Japan, and I just let Naruto take it from there. In my defense, though, it did make sense at the time._

...

_"Y-you _idiot_—stop worrying about my eyes and get off me!" _

...

**That's All the Words I Know**

"See—_see_? It's just like I told you. I keep seeing him everywhere."

Shikamaru arches both eyebrows at Naruto staring extremely hard at the two guys sitting five tables down from them. "That guy you ran into last month?"

"Yeah," Naruto says, offhanded, barely paying any attention to Shikamaru. "Yeah, the crazy guy who was walking around with a freaking shaman stick—Himiko-bastard."

Shikamaru tries to get a good look at this so-called Himiko-bastard. He can't see too well from this angle, but he can make out dark hair and dark eyes, which isn't descriptive in the least, considering it describes the majority of Japan's population; however, bizarre choice of moniker aside, it's his first glimpse of the infamous guy Naruto has yet to stop complaining about.

Looks somewhat familiar, though. From one of his classes or something. He may actually have to pay attention during the rest of the week to make sure. The curiosity that's gradually been building may just be enough to curb his usual indolence.

Sitting next to him, Chouji, one of the more reasonable and sane students he's been fortunate enough to come across at Tama so far, looks between Naruto and the guy Naruto's trying to burn holes into by sheer will alone, then turns his attention back to Shikamaru. He opens a large bag of hot and spicy shrimp flavoured chips and pops one into his mouth. "So..."

"Right," Shikamaru says, not completely forgetful of the manners instilled by his overbearing mother that finally start to kick in. He makes a flippant gesture with his hand and nods towards Naruto. "Chouji, meet my roommate. Naruto, Chouji."

Chouji waves at Naruto with two fingers. "Yo."

Still glaring at his purported rival he's only met once, Naruto grunts. He absently stabs at his neglected ramen with his chopsticks, spilling a little bit of broth over the rim of the small cup and muttering something Shikamaru really doesn't care to know.

Of course, with his luck, or simply because it's Naruto, he finds out anyway.

"Everywhere," Naruto says, voice beginning to rise, "the guy shows up everywhere I don't want him to be. And by everywhere, I mean _everywhere_. I've even seen him on the train a few times. Like some kind of demonic cicada that still won't die even after summer's over. He's probably a rokurokubi in disguise or something."

"_A long neck spirit_?" Chouji silently mouths at Shikamaru.

"I assume it has something to do with his aversion to snakes."

Chouji blinks twice.

"Naruto tends to overshare a little too much. Learning these kinds of things about him, honestly, I didn't have a choice."

"Definitely a rokurokubi pretending to be human," Naruto says. "I wouldn't be surprised if Himiko-bastard turned into one because his karma was so low."

"...Tama's a pretty small school," Chouji offers, more than a little cautious with his choice of words. "Maybe it's a coincidence?"

Naruto's eyes narrow even further, and his voice actually darkens. "Like hell it is."

Shikamaru shrugs when Chouji sends a questioning look his way. "Running into the same people, that kind of thing's not to be unexpected in a dining hall. Just don't try telling him it's not some perverse form of serendipity."

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Chouji gives a slight nod in understanding, glancing back to Naruto. "Ah."

"You seem thoroughly entertained by this little fiasco," Shikamaru says, with a somewhat amused gleam in his eyes.

"Well, I can't say I haven't seen worse." Throwing back another chip, leaning closer to Shikamaru, Chouji whispers none too softly, "Still, he's a little obsessed, isn't he? Maybe even a little paranoid, too."

"At this rate, it's a wonder they haven't had a class together yet."

"Yet?"

"Matter of time. I'm sure Naruto'll be pursuing this vendetta at least until the end of the term. That's how these kinds of things are supposed to work. Like a really bad comedy. I bet that guy's going to end up being more trouble than he's worth."

"Hmm, I see what you're saying." Chouji continues to stare, interest piquing when Naruto begins to gnaw through the disposable chopsticks trapped between his teeth. "Um...Naruto, you're kind of eating through your chopsticks, man."

Unsurprisingly, Naruto seems completely oblivious, still staring at his Himiko-bastard while grinding away at the thin pieces of wood on the verge of snapping.

"...I didn't realise it was that serious."

Shikamaru raises a placating hand, shaking his head at Chouji. "Once this guy gets started, it's best just to let this kind of thing run its course."

"That's it!" Yanking the chopsticks out of his mouth, Naruto slams them on the table and abruptly stands. It's really not that dramatic a statement, especially considering the already noisy atmosphere that drowns out the sound of his chair scraping against the floor.

But he seems more than compelled enough to follow through with his sudden declaration.

"I'm going over there."

Not that Shikamaru has any intention of trying to stop him anyway. Instead, he looks to Chouji. His gaze then trails back to a visibly determined Naruto treading away from their table. "You've seen worse than that, too, I gather."

"Yep." Not taking his eyes off Naruto, Chouji holds the bag of shrimp chips towards Shikamaru. "Want some?"

...

Whatever that Chouji guy said, there's no way how many times he's seen this bastard could ever be a coincidence. It just can't be. Everywhere he goes, that bastard's always somewhere around the corner, and it's getting old really fast. He's only been here a month, yet he can't go two days without almost running into the guy.

So three tables down, only two more away from his destination, he lengthens his stride. The stride of a man who won't be bested by some rokurokubi, the stride of a man on a mission, it's the stride of the Great Uzumaki Naruto who's finally going to confront the Menacing Himiko-bastard once and for all.

Accordingly, his hands hit the table of his destination with a bang, palms flat on the surface and right in front of Himiko-bastard's tray. He squints at him, doing a double take when the white-haired guy sitting beside Himiko-bastard calmly takes a sip of his kimchi ramune soda.

Naruto's had octopus ramune before, so really, he can't exactly talk, but still. Kimchi ramune? He doesn't personally know anybody who actually drinks the stuff.

Anyway.

"_You_," he says, back to narrowing his eyes at Himiko-bastard.

The other guy puts down his soda and points to his nose. "Me?"

"No." Temporarily distracted, Naruto shakes his head and once more goes back to narrowing his eyes at Himiko-bastard, who, tearing off a small piece of his steamed meat bun to put in his mouth, doesn't even flinch. "_You_."

After a few seconds of Naruto glaring and Himiko-bastard chewing that seem to pass by painfully slow, Himiko-bastard finally looks up, and Naruto's met with dark eyes.

"What?"

"Don't you know who I am?"

Himiko-bastard props an elbow on the table, with the side of his face resting against the back of his hand. He gives Naruto this extremely bland expression. "Am I supposed to?"

"Hey—hey, that's not how it works. I asked you a question first." Pushing up from the table, Naruto points a volatile finger that nearly hits Himiko-bastard in the nose. "You can't answer a question with a question."

"Let me rephrase this in a way that may be easier for you to understand." One eyebrow arched, Himiko-bastard cocks his head a little to the side. "Do I look like I care?"

Naruto squawks.

"Now that we've established how much I don't, go away." Himiko-bastard tears off another small piece of his meat bun. "Drawing so much attention like this, you're making a scene, and I don't even know you."

"What do you mean you don't know me? How can you not know who I am? I'm the one you hit with that damn shaman stick, you cruel and heartless bastard. I couldn't even run for a week because you made me sprain my ankle."

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Himiko-bastard gives Naruto a quick onceover, hardly impressed. "I can tell."

"What're you trying to—"

"Oh, I see," the other guy says, elbow on Himiko-bastard's shoulder and leaning closer to study Naruto. "So Blondie here's the reason why you were so testy that day. About your shinai. Mm, everything suddenly makes sense now."

Naruto draws his head back, making a face. "...did you—did you just call me Blondie?"

"I wasn't the moron with no sense of direction." Ignoring Naruto's indignant cry of _I'm not a moron_, Himiko-bastard gives the other guy a blank look for his efforts, shrugging off the elbow on his shoulder. When his gaze turns back to Naruto, though, he settles on something decidedly closer to irritation. "You're the one who ran into me."

"That's not what—wait a minute, this means you do remember me, don't you?" Naruto pulls up a chair, turning the back of it against the table and taking a seat. He crosses his arms on top of the table and glowers. "You said you didn't know me, you liar."

"I've never seen you before that day. I don't know you."

"Uzumaki—"

"I didn't say I wanted to, either."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto says, eyes slightly tapered with a cheeky grin. "And you're going to remember it."

Himiko-bastard snorts.

"Tch. I'm still waiting for an apology, too. You didn't even say you were sorry for hitting me."

"Then you'll be waiting a long time because I'm not. You shouldn't have been in the way."

At a loss, Naruto just blinks. "What sort of faulty reasoning is that supposed to be?"

"Don't mind him," the other guy says to Naruto with an excessively cheerful smile. He steals a meat bun from Himiko-bastard's tray, receiving a far from amused look in return, but he just leans closer to Himiko-bastard's face. "And here I thought you weren't a people person when we first met. You just like to hold grudges, don't you?"

"Suigetsu..."

"He's not always like this," the other guy—Suigetsu—says, drawing back and taking a bite out of his stolen meat bun. "Really, he's a nice guy once you get to know him. Ridiculously polite, too. Or at least once you get past the constant threats he never follows through with and these really neurotic tendencies he has. Like when he does laundry, he has to use the—"

"Don't you have a class you're going to be late for?"

"And leave you here alone? With all the strange kind of attention you tend to attract, I wouldn't want to miss out on anything interesting like this. Art Theory doesn't start for another hour anyway," Suigetsu says, glancing at his watch. "Besides, I actually sort of like you, remember."

"I don't see how," Naruto mutters, feeling a little left out of the conversation he's immediately pulled back into when Himiko-bastard gives him this _look_, this so over the top condescending _look_ that makes him feel like his intelligence is somehow being insulted by a glare alone.

Which, considering the kind of person Himiko-bastard is, it probably is.

"You're still here?"

"Listen, you evil shaman stick-wielding demonic rokurokubi—"

Snorting into his ramune soda, Suigetsu snickers.

"—the only reason I came over here is because I can't stop seeing you all the time. Ever since that day, you keep showing up everywhere I don't want you to be, so whatever you think you're doing following me around like that," Naruto says, standing a finger upright on the table, "it needs to stop now."

Making this little hmph noise, Himiko-bastard returns back to his food, using a pair of chopsticks to pick up a plain looking rice ball.

"Hey—you can't do that. You're not supposed to ignore people when they're talking to you."

Without even looking up, Himiko-bastard says, "Watch me."

"Come on, bangjjak" Suigetsu says, bearing a toothy grin at an exasperated looking Himiko-bastard he again leans close to. "No need to be so mean to the guy. You should try being more friendly. It's already been a month, right?"

Himiko-bastard rolls his eyes.

"Is that your name?" Naruto blurts out, trying to repeat what Suigetsu said. It feels foreign and unfamiliar on his tongue, doesn't sound anything close to Japanese, but he tries to pronounce it again anyway, earning a chuckle from Suigetsu.

"You're funny, Blondie. Really funny," he says. "Like your name."

"What the—"

"So not only are you dense, but apparently you're hard of hearing, too." Himiko-bastard gives Naruto another one of those extremely bland looks, unscrewing the cap to his bottle of jasmine tea. "Fascinating."

"That doesn't even—why would you even—_gah,_ you're such a—" Groaning, Naruto pulls at his hair, turning around in his chair to face Himiko-bastard. "What kind of person are you? Flaunting that kind of off-putting personality, who actually goes around willingly saying those kinds of mean—"

Suigetsu interrupts Naruto's outburst with a snap of his fingers. "That's where I know you from. You're that guy who transferred to Professor Umino's class at the last minute last week then almost got kicked out for being so loud, yeah?"

Sitting up, Naruto grins, more than a little sheepish. It wasn't one of his prouder moments, getting into an argument so early in his first term with that Tobio guy for something he can't even remember now, but it was all a simple misunderstanding.

Really.

"An idiot like you," Himiko-bastard says, taking a sip of his tea, "figures."

But back to the more important matter at hand.

"At least I'm not the one haunting poor innocent people with plans to drain their blood at night."

"Why would I drain anyone's—what is your problem? We both happen to be attending the same school. How could that kind of coincidence possibly be my fault? You actually think I'd go out of my way to follow a dumbass like you?"

"And the hell's that supposed to mean, huh?" Naruto nearly throws himself the short distance between them. Placed only a few centimetres away, he squints. "You got something against me, Himiko-bastard?"

"Don't." Himiko-bastard's left eye starts to twitch. Violently, his grip tightens on the plastic bottle of tea he sets on the table. He glowers at Naruto. "Call me that."

"Himiko-bastard?" Suigetsu outright cackles, taking a loud sip of his drink through the straw in his mouth. "This guy must really have it out for you."

Himiko-bastard levels a glare at him, too.

"What's your name then, bastard?"

"Like I should feel any obligation to answer such a presumptuous guy." Himiko-bastard purses his lips. "You're the idiot who came over here making completely senseless claims to people you don't even know with the intention of starting some kind of confrontation. For the last time. Go. Away."

"Not until you tell me your name." Not in the least discouraged, Naruto inches closer and closer towards Himiko-bastard's face, placing himself only a few centimetres away.

"It's none of your business," Himiko-bastard hisses. "Now _leave_."

A slight upturn of Naruto's lips quickly edges into a smirk. "Unless you want me to keep calling you Himiko-bastard?"

He receives a scowl in return, paired with the kind of glare he's pretty sure is meant to bore holes into his skull. Vaguely, though, somewhere in the back of his mind, he registers someone calling out the name Tobio, which definitely must be a coincidence this time, unlike Himiko-bastard's apparent ability to be everywhere Naruto doesn't want him to be, but that train of thought is quickly lost when a nudge to his back shoves him face forward.

Straight into Himiko-bastard's lap.

His first instinct is to keep from falling, so it makes perfectly good sense that his hands reach for Himiko-bastard's legs, keep him steady when they slide to down to rest on Himiko-bastard's knees, and slowly, _slowly_, he raises his head.

Himiko-bastard's whole body just freezes, then his face starts to get red. Really red. Like seriously, really red. Almost as red as his mom's hair, Naruto absently thinks, pushing himself up a little closer to stare into wide, impossibly dark eyes.

"Your eyes are really dark, you know that," he says, "I mean really, really—"

"Y-you _idiot_—stop worrying about my eyes and get off me!"

It takes another moment for the delayed reaction to finally bring reality crashing back in, one or two seconds to remind Naruto exactly what kind of position he's in that are instantaneously sped up by the hands sort of digging into his cheek and pressing up against his nose trying to shove him away, except his own hands are still kind of holding on to Himiko-bastard's knees for dear life so he won't fall down on the floor.

He holds a breath at the not so small circle of silence from the good number of people around them. Maybe not the entire dining hall, but with those kinds of intent looks, all the not so go kind of attention he's drawn, it feels like everyone within eyesight is staring at them—_everyone_—which is when Naruto again remembers where he is but this time realises how close his face was to practically being in Himiko-bastard's crotch.

Horrified, his eyes grow large. Completely mortified, his mouth opens wide with a shriek that stays silent because he can't get any sound to come out.

And it really doesn't help make him feel any better when Suigetsu decides to break the surrounding silence by laughing. The guy just starts laughing and can't seem to exercise enough self-control to actually stop.

"I—uh...um," Naruto can't help his stutter and his shaky hands that still haven't let go of Himiko-bastard's knees, because really, if he wasn't caught in such an embarrassing situation, especially with the palm trying to rearrange his face and the finger that almost pokes his eye out, he definitely would have moved by now, "I didn't—I _swear_ I wasn't trying to—"

"I don't care, you moron, just get off me—get the hell off me!"

His saviour is an unexpected hand seizing him from behind by his grey jacket, and he jumps, finally letting go of Himiko-bastard when he recognises Kiba's voice as the strong grip pulls him up from Himiko-bastard's lap.

"You got to be kidding me, Naruto. I haven't even known you that long, but leave you alone for ten minutes and this is what I come back to?" Annoyed, Kiba sucks his teeth. He draws out an incredibly long and dramatic sigh, grabbing the back of Naruto's collar to lead him back to their table. "As much as I like you, I didn't sign up to be your babysitter, you know."

Naruto lets himself be dragged away from an absolutely scandalised looking Himiko-bastard who breaks their gaze and picks up his tray to leave with a still loudly laughing Suigetsu. Somewhat numb, he's not really in a state to put up a struggle, too busy trying to wipe out the image of his face that close to being in Himiko-bastard's crotch that's already been burned into his mind.

"Seriously, I mean, if this were a stand-up comedy," Kiba says, "this is the point where I should be hitting you with a fan. And I'd hit you really hard, too. But why do you always have to make me the straight man in our relationship? What if I want to be the funny man every once in a while, huh? Did you ever stop to think about that?"

Bottom lip trembling, Naruto finally recovers his voice, letting out this really shrill sort of squeak. "But I—and then there was Himiko-bastard's—my face—"

The longwinded stream of complaints continues to go on as Kiba parts a way for them through the crowd that hasn't stopped staring, but Naruto's just kind of shaking, still feeling a little numb, maybe even a little scarred for life at this point.

"So I don't appreciate that you keep putting me in this position of assumed responsibility, all right," Kiba says. "I'm only eighteen, but you're making me feel old, man. Very, very old."

He pushes down on the shoulders of a compliant Naruto and sits him across from Shikamaru and Chouji.

"I was right there," Naruto murmurs, staring at his cup ramen that's probably cold by now and the chewed up ends of the chopsticks lying on top of each other on the table, "my face was almost _this_ close to being right on top of Himiko-bastard's—"

"Yeah, yeah, Naruto." Dropping his head, again, Kiba sighs. He raises pleading eyes to look at Shikamaru and Chouji, pointing a thumb at Naruto. "Why do I get the sinking feeling this kind of thing is going to become routine with him?"

"Let it run its course, huh?" Chouji says with a glance to Shikamaru, raising both eyebrows at Naruto muttering about _a trying-to-be-innocent tomato-faced Himiko-bastard_, _evil undying cicadas that won't stay dead_, and_ rokurokubi in disguise attempting to lure him into their demonic crotches so they can drain his blood at night_. "...yeah, I'm just going to say your roommate's a lot weirder than you first told me to expect."

Shaking his head, Shikamaru snorts, reaching for a handful of hot and spicy shrimp flavoured chips from the large bag placed between his tray and Chouji's. "Still not the worst you've seen, though, right?"

"Nope." Chouji picks up the bag still half full and offers it to Kiba. "Want some?"


	13. Be There

_"Didn't know you had a thing for soap."_

...

**Be There**

Slowly, the front door begins to open, prolonged with a low creak that resonates throughout the small apartment, compelling bleary eyes open in a dark room, and groggy, Sasuke begins to wake.

He blinks at the dim light from the sitting room tapering a line leading into the hallway. Closing his eyes, vaguely, he picks up on a low patter of footsteps. There's a soft thud of something heavy hitting the floor, followed by another quick shuffle of steps that comes to an abrupt stop.

Bright light spills into the room, poorly filtered through his eyelids, and he groans, turns in the bed away from the light and towards the wall with his cheek smushed against his forearm resting on top of a pillow.

Another door opens then closes. Not too long after, he can hear the sound of running water from the bathroom across the hall. There's a sharp clanging noise trailed by a stream of muffled curses, but Sasuke just curls his fingers around the blanket in his grip, gradually nodding off.

The bed suddenly dips beneath an added weight, and Sasuke stills, startled eyes met with the dark. An arm wraps around him from behind, and he relaxes, closes his eyes with a slow exhale at the warm breath he feels at the nape of his neck.

"Sasuke..."

With a grunt, Sasuke leans into the chest pressed against his back. "...I was trying to sleep."

"Sorry," Naruto murmurs into his shoulder. "For waking you up, that is. Didn't mean to come home so late. Go back to sleep."

"...it's fine."

Naruto's chest rises with a steady inhale. "You don't smell like that new ink you bought anymore," he says softly. "You smell nice. Like soap."

"Didn't know you had a thing for soap."

"I have a thing for you."

Sasuke hums when Naruto starts to shift against him, making room for the knee trying to fit its way between his legs. "Comfortable?"

Naruto nods against his shoulder. "Now I am."

Sasuke snorts. "Throwing yourself all over me like this, you're shameless."

"Just think of me as a blanket."

"A blanket?"

"Well, a human blanket at least. So if you're my human pillow, I'll be your human blanket."

"I'm pretty sure my regular blanket doesn't have a habit of poking me in the back with his erection in the morning."

The sheets rustle when Naruto lifts his head from Sasuke's shoulder. "It better not."

With another snort, Sasuke pinches the back of Naruto's hand, ignoring the exaggerated hiss of pain that follows.

"I can't believe you're still so mean to me, Sasuke," Naruto mutters into his skin, not bothering to hide the petulance coming through his words. "You know I wasn't being serious."

"You idiot," Sasuke whispers, soft and nearly lost through a yawn displacing a tiny smile the slightest upturn at the corner of his mouth. His fingers curl around Naruto's wrist, pulling tighter around him Naruto's arm he holds close to his chest as his voice begins to drift away. "...go to sleep."


	14. Lead Me to the Space Beside You

_Another tie scene, but I have this thing for Sasuke fussing over Naruto, in his own backwards little way. Takes place in their hotel room in Yamaguchi, right before they leave for the wedding. I admit t__his was such a spur-of-the-moment kind of fic (____apparently it seems hard for me to write Sasuke without issues), although __as silly as I prefer them, I'd still like to think there's a reason they fit together._

...

_"The way you're behaving, you'd think I was actually trying to kill you."_

...

**Lead Me to the Space Beside You**

"Come here, Naruto."

"...I don't know, Sasuke. You don't look sane right now."

"Come. Here."

"Look, I don't want to die so young. There're too many things out there I still haven't seen. So much I still haven't had the chance to do in this world. So much I still haven't had a chance to do with you. To you."

"_Naruto_."

Cautious, Naruto leaves the relative safety of the large bathroom and stands in front of the threshold.

"So..." Straightening his shoulders, he takes a deep breath, chest slow to rise and fall. "How do I look?"

"You look..." Almost transfixed, Sasuke stares for a few seconds, quiet, with an abnormally stiff set to his shoulders. "Fine. You look...fine."

"All that torture you put me through," Naruto mutters, grudgingly walking towards Sasuke, "I was expecting something a little more than just—"

He yelps when Sasuke grabs both ends of the loose light grey tie haphazardly thrown around his neck to pull him forward. "Did you really need to do that?"

"Yes." Releasing the tie, in one swift motion, Sasuke lifts the collar of Naruto's white dress shirt. "Now don't move."

"I'm never letting you convince me to wear a tie again."

"And I'm never letting you convince me you're responsible enough to dress yourself for this kind of occasion—hold still." Placing a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder to make him face forward, Sasuke scoffs. "The way you're behaving, you'd think I was actually trying to kill you."

"Keep pulling that thing around my neck like that, yeah, you might as well be."

Sasuke pauses. His fingers fall away to let go of Naruto's tie still left undone, and he lowers his gaze, stares at Naruto's black dress shoes shiny and brand new standing so close to his own. "...there's still time to look up the train schedule, if you want to go back home."

"Mm, I don't know." Naruto tilts his head back with a sigh, looking for absent cracks on the plain off-white ceiling above them. "I kind of liked taking a plane for once. As much as my parents used to travel out of the country, they didn't take me with them much. Besides," he says, trying to catch the gaze of dark eyes obscured by the hair fallen over Sasuke's face, "your aunt already paid for our tickets, so..."

Once more, Sasuke reaches for the loose ends of Naruto's tie, giving them a gentle tug. "It's not her fault you're so hopeless with this kind of thing."

"Then staying here, I guess it really can't be helped."

"Not with you."

"...your hands are shaking."

"No, they're not."

Taking one of Sasuke's hands in his own, Naruto intertwines their fingers. He smiles a little, soft, with a simple laugh short-lived and unassuming. "Okay, they're not shaking."

"I'm not nervous."

"I didn't say you were nervous."

"I'm not," Sasuke says, finally raising his head. The corner of his mouth rises just a little, but he presses his lips together, looks down again and then back up, makes another attempt at a smile that comes out a little too strained. "I just..."

The way Sasuke won't stop looking at him, holding him still under the scrutiny of such credulous eyes, Naruto has to fight the urge to fidget. "It's been almost three years."

Sasuke hums, squeezing Naruto's hand in his before letting go. "Almost three years since I've seen them, since I left Yamaguchi, but I...now I'm suddenly subjecting my entire family to someone like _you_, and I—"

The chaste touch of lips is brief against the corner of Sasuke's mouth, and Naruto pulls away before Sasuke can blink.

"Normally," he says, "I'd have a better comeback against that kind of—"

"No, you wouldn't."

"I would too," Naruto says, barely able to contain the whine creeping into his voice. "And a really good one if you ever stopped insulting me long enough to actually give me a chance to come up with something."

Sasuke makes a noncommittal noise that almost turns into a smile as he again reaches for the ends of Naruto's tie, crossing the wide part of the tie over the narrow end.

Keeping his head held high, Naruto inhales as Sasuke begins to tie a complicated knot. "...you know I like you," he says, voice firm growing low and softer. "I really like you, Sasuke, and I know you know that. So why would I want to go back to Narita when I came all the way to Yamaguchi just to be with you?"

Still for only a moment, Sasuke brings the wide end of the tie through a loop for a third time and pulls it to the front. He tightens the knot, both hands adjusting the tie to lie centred over Naruto's shirt. "...it took us less than two hours to get here."

"You really do know how to ruin a moment, don't you?"

"What moment?" Sasuke says, straightening the collar over Naruto's tie.

"Seriously, though, I didn't fly eight hundred kilometres for Itachi to treat me to fugu in Shimonoseki."

"...tell me he didn't say that."

"He did. When I was on the phone with him this morning. Actually, he called it fuku. And then I had to ask him what he was talking about."

With a sigh, Sasuke's cheeks inflate, and he drops his head on Naruto's shoulder. "He wasn't being serious."

"Using such an outdated word and making that kind of serious invitation to eat food that has the potential to kill me—no, it sounded like a threat to me."

"My brother wouldn't threaten you, Naruto. He likes you. He's just...that's just his sense of humour. Skewed."

"If you say so, sure, but as indifferent as you like to pretend you are, it's even harder to tell with someone like your brother. He did say you'd probably react like this, though. Something about you looking like a pufferfish?"

Head raised in one sharp motion, Sasuke levels Naruto with a steadfast glare.

Naruto snorts, lips tight in a firm line and starting to tremble. Slowly, _cautiously_, he lifts a finger to poke one of Sasuke's slightly puffed cheeks, instantly making both of them deflate.

And then the dam breaks.

"I c-can't believe," he tries to say, words lost between overtly obnoxious guffaws of laughter. "I actually thought Itachi was lying, but it—it's just like he said. You do. Y-you really do kind of look like a—"

Sasuke yanks on Naruto's tie, pulling Naruto against him to whisper in his ear, "Guess what I won't be using these cheeks to do any time soon."

All traces of humour gone, Naruto sputters when Sasuke releases the tie and pushes him away. "W-wait, Sasuke, I was joking—_joking_. It was a joke, but I didn't really think it was that funny. Listening to Itachi, I was just trying to do the right thing by being a good brother-in-law in order to impress my future family. Come on, you can't threaten me by withholding doing that sort of thing. Not when I—"

"Naruto."

"...yeah?"

"Shut up."


	15. Just as Long as You Stand by Me

_**Saby a**: Thanks for reading. ^^;; Maybe not all guys, but at least Naruto is, lol._

_..._

_"Nah, we're different. You and me, it's like…it's like we're ramen and kamaboko."_

...

**Just as Long as You Stand by Me**

A little over three hours later, when the credits from the third episode of Sign begin to appear on the screen of Naruto's generously sized JVC TV that isn't really that generous in size (_Hey,_ _at least it's HD_, Naruto likes to say whenever he gets unusually defensive about the thing, particularly around Kiba, who's made a pastime out of teasing him for shits and giggles, _you_ _don't get to complain about something I let your ungrateful ass use entirely too much, especially since you don't even have a TV that works_), Sasuke tips his head back to peer at Naruto.

Teeth drawn over his bottom lip to bite back a burgeoning smile, Naruto looks down at Sasuke leaning against his side. "Don't look at me like that."

A once simple expectant look becomes knowingly shrewd.

"Pompous bastard," Naruto grumbles. "I gave it a chance like you told me to. And okay, maybe I kind of..." He clears his throat, glancing at the TV screen now showing the main menu. "I kind of..."

"You liked it."

"It wasn't so bad," Naruto retorts, absently reaching for the remote. He presses a button to eject the DVD.

"For something that wasn't so bad, I wouldn't think it'd be worth being so heavily involved to the point of screeching at the screen."

"You take that back, Sasuke—I do not screech."

Sasuke gives him another look.

"And so what if I got a little involved? I admitted it wasn't that bad, didn't I?" With his shoulder, Naruto nudges Sasuke off his side. Standing, he walks the short distance to the DVD player. He takes out the ejected disc, holding it with a finger inserted into the hole in the centre of the plastic ring.

From the open Sign box set lying on top of the DVD player, he picks up the second disc with his free hand and places it in the tray, closing the tray with a light tap.

The other disc still around his finger, he takes grabs the box set and returns to oversized beanbag chair Sasuke's almost completely sunken into.

"Okay, I get that you really like my comfy chair," he says. "I mean, I really like it, too. Believe me. But you can't keep hogging it to yourself all the time. Because, you know... it's still my chair."

He pokes Sasuke's calf draped over the edge of the dark grey cushion with his foot. "Now scoot over."

Sasuke snorts, but he moves over anyway, making just enough room for Naruto to plop down beside him. "It's almost ten."

"And?"

"Sign must really not be so bad if you're in such a hurry to finish the rest of it."

"Lay off on that already. If you want to hear me say I liked it, then it was really good, all right." Naruto laughs when Sasuke grabs the box set from his hand. "Even if I had to be bothered to read subtitles."

He grins as he waves the disc still held by his finger, grins an almost too friendly kind of easygoing grin that makes Sasuke hesitant for barely even the slightest moment, just long enough to pause his fingers poised over the edges of the disc. Yet the moment only lasts for a second or two, far too fleeting for someone like Naruto to notice, and Sasuke purses his lips, slipping the disc off Naruto's finger to place it back in the box set.

"Just be grateful I didn't put the subtitles in English."

"Like that's supposed to mean anything when it only has Japanese subtitles. But at least it wasn't another one of those sword dramas you usually like to watch."

Setting the box set on the floor, Sasuke purposely bumps his knee against Naruto's leg. "They're not all period dramas."

"Of course not," Naruto says, pressing play on the remote. He bumps Sasuke back with an errant heel against Sasuke's ankle. "I still say you watch too much of them, though."

Sasuke allows himself to sink further into the plush cushion of the beanbag chair, inadvertently brought closer to Naruto's side. "The next time I want your opinion, I'll give it to you."

"Cute, Sasuke," Naruto deadpans. "That's real cute."

"If I cared enough to listen to you, I actually would."

Folding his arms behind his head, Naruto snorts. "What's the deal with you and watching all these Korean dramas anyway?"

"Suigetsu said I'd like them, so..."

"Mm, if he's so into them, I guess that makes some kind of sense."

"Karin likes them, too. She keeps up with the more recent ones. But putting so much effort into that kind of hobby, it's really something between the two of them. They just like to drag me into it."

"The three of you are very…weird."

"And you're very...simple-minded."

Naruto sucks his teeth. "I thought we already got past this point."

"What point?"

"The whole you-being-mean-to-me-for-the-sake-of-being-mean-to-me point. That one."

"For the mere fact that I even know you, no. We'll never be able to get past that point."

"Asshole," Naruto mutters. He rubs the bottom of his palm along his right thigh. "You really do enjoy doing this to me, don't you?"

"Saying the truth?"

"Weird and unnecessarily mean. What type of inviting personality is that supposed to be?"

Sasuke lifts his head from Naruto's shoulder, peering at him with eyes not fully open that begin to close. "...you tell me."

"And to think I'm the one who wanted to be friends with you."

Shifting away from Naruto, Sasuke gives a soft hum, cheek pressed against the pliable cushion of the chair.

Although he knows not to take that kind of banter from Naruto seriously, he'll admit he does wonder about their relationship sometimes, about what brought them together and, maybe even more importantly, what it is about them that actually works apart from Naruto's sheer persistence that outright refuses to let them be anything less than friends.

Being so reserved in nature, he knows he's not the most approachable person, and beyond the occasional call for polite conversation, he also knows he's not the easiest person to get close to, if only because he's developed what's become an instinctive practice of keeping most people at arm's length.

When he was younger, his mom used to say he was simply shy, although she'd hesitate to discourage his insistence on spending more time with his family rather than meeting new people. His dad didn't have much of an opinion, or at least one that wasn't already entangled with some kind of offhand comparison to Itachi, however unintentional Sasuke later realised it was, but his brother...

_You shouldn't be so quick to emotionally detach yourself from everyone you meet_, his brother once told him, during the year a seventeen year old Itachi decided to move out of the house and the only thing Sasuke's eleven year old self could register was the fact that his brother was leaving him, _giving someone else the opportunity to know you, perhaps you wouldn't mind it as much as you'd like to think_.

And because Itachi's advice means as much to him now as it did then, Sasuke took it.

He still doesn't have too many friends, though. A handful from Yamaguchi he likes to keep in touch with mixed alongside the few he's made since coming to Tama. Although honestly, he can't say it bothers him. The friends he does have are the people he's comfortable with, the people he's allowed himself to become close to and to the extent where he feels he can consider them almost like family.

Yet with Naruto, someone who went from being this loud and overbearing annoyingly obstinate stranger to being his loud and overbearing annoyingly obstinate friend, somehow, in allowing himself to become close to Naruto, Naruto became...different.

He wouldn't necessarily say it's a bad different, but compared to his relationships with his other friends, there's still enough of a difference that it does give him pause from time to time.

It crept upon him. This apparent ease between them that he rarely gives a second thought, even while they're sharing the beanbag chair Naruto doesn't like to share with anyone else, as comfortable as he is right now, it's still a little unnerving when it suddenly dawns on him the normality of their closeness that just _is_.

And despite all those instances of Sasuke unconsciously trying to distance himself, all those things he sometimes says and does without meaning to, Naruto's still there—_right_ _here_—finding his way through a maze of castles Sasuke only learned how to build from sand with such a stupidly simple smile and this crazy ability to see too many things Sasuke doesn't want to let show.

But that's just who Naruto is.

That's just what he does.

Because Naruto will always be _Naruto_, and the more Sasuke tries to push him away, if anything, the more determined he proves to be, yet there's a niggling awareness that comes with being the focus of that kind of resolve. There's this vague sense of trepidation that's recently begun to fester in the back of his mind laying emphasis on the possibility of one day pushing Naruto too far and ultimately driving him away.

The idea of losing a significant part of his life that Naruto's become, the idea of losing someone he's allowed himself to grow so close to in such a short amount of time, the amount of thought he's managed to put into something like this so quickly urging an almost impulsive desire to ensure there won't be a day when Naruto's no longer his friend, Sasuke doesn't know what to do with any of it.

...and it scares him.

"You're not going to make me watch this by myself, are you?"

The words are a whisper low still too loud too close to his ear, and Sasuke forces his eyes open, startled when he realises his head's resting on Naruto's shoulder again. "...I'm awake."

"The episode's almost over now."

Removing himself from Naruto's side, Sasuke makes a not so subtle shift away from Naruto, creating a more allowable distance between them. It isn't much, but at least it's something. "I'm awake, I said."

"If you're going to fall asleep, you can lean on me, you know," Naruto says, raising a hand to ruffle his hair. "It's not like you haven't done that kind of thing before."

Tight-lipped, maybe coming off a little more severe than he intended, Sasuke looks away and stares down at the box set lying on the floor.

Falling asleep on Naruto, it isn't something he can readily deny. He's done it a number of times seemingly on the verge of becoming too many to count, but the fact that Naruto can be so casual about such a thing, this agreeable pattern they've managed to slip into over the past couple months, it only serves to further augment Sasuke's apprehension.

"I should go," he says, stands and then stills when Naruto makes a hasty reach for his arm.

"Why?"

"You said it yourself. I'm falling asleep on you. I don't want to—"

"You know it doesn't bother me, right? Leaning on me, when you—when you do that, it's okay." Squeezing Sasuke's arm twice, Naruto gives him this small, almost tentative smile. "Really."

With a sigh, Sasuke begins to lean back and allows Naruto to pull him the rest of the way down. He lands on the extremely comfortable chair with a soft thump from the excess air in the cushion being displaced by his weight.

A silence not wholly uncomfortable settles between them as the voices from the drama they're supposed to be watching return to the foreground. However, only a few minutes pass before the end of the episode. The credits appear on the screen that then fades to black. It isn't until the opening sequence for the next episode begins, though, when Naruto releases his arm to pick up the remote, that Sasuke realises Naruto had been holding it the entire time.

The screen freezes with a press of a button. Naruto turns to look at him. He stares at him with a gaze almost uncomfortably discerning that lingers a little too long until his expression begins to relax and he finally decides to speak.

"...you know, I was thinking," he says, "we should start doing this more often."

"Doing what?"

"This." Naruto grins, gesturing with a hand at TV and then motioning between himself and Sasuke. "Drama night."

"Drama night?"

"Either your place or mine, but the two of us catching up on your dramas every Friday night...yeah—why not? It isn't like you let me watch what I want to watch anyway. Never mind if it's on my TV."

"There's no accounting for your questionable taste."

"Heh. Says a ridiculously picky guy like you."

Sasuke snorts. "I thought I was weird for watching these dramas?"

Naruto nods, making a soft noise in agreement. "You still are, but I just want to see what it is about them you like so much. It's unexpected for someone like you to be interested in this kind of thing. I mean, I invited you over here, right, so you know it's not that I mind watching them with you or anything like that. Besides, it's not your fault Suigetsu and Karin made you weird."

"And you don't think being around you doesn't make me weird?"

"Nah, we're different. You and me, it's like…it's like we're ramen and kamaboko."

"Fishcake." Turning his body towards Naruto, Sasuke just stares. "You're comparing me to fishcake."

"No, I'm saying you're the pork ramen to my narutomaki."

Sasuke continues to stare, flicking a few strands of hair away from his face. "That doesn't even make sense."

"It doesn't have to. As long as it still tastes good, right? Oh—oh, and sometimes with those fermented bamboo shoots, too. "

Sasuke sighs. Beneath his head, he raises an arm to rest his cheek against. "You're impossible."

"What?" Naruto squints at him, bottom lip slightly protruding. "Ramen topped with naruto and menma, that kind of combination, it really is good."

"I didn't say it wasn't."

"Oh. Well. I mean, as long as you know it's good, too." Naruto smiles, rubbing a finger along the area below his nose and above his upper lip. "Because it is. Even better than the instant beef ramen you can only find in Mobara I told you about before."

"That good?"

"...yeah," Naruto whispers, leaning just a little closer, his eyes just a little softer, and his voice grows almost too low for Sasuke to hear, "definitely the bes—"

He jumps back at the sound of the knob being turned, and the door opens to reveal Shikamaru on the other side.

"S-shikamaru," he says quickly, scrambling to stand as if he's been caught doing something wrong, although Sasuke can't figure out the reason for the sudden change in behaviour. "Back so soon?"

"With how late it is, your definition of soon is considerably off." In one hand, Shikamaru lugs a six-pack of Kirin Lager. His other hand holds a small plastic bag similar to the ones used at the convenience store across the street around the corner.

He pauses when he takes notice of Sasuke lounging on the chair. "Careful, Sasuke. I may actually start to think you live here."

Sasuke hums, extending his limbs to take up the space vacated by Naruto and left comfortably warm. "You'll be the first to know when I finally decide to move in."

"Don't joke about that kind of thing," Naruto says, but he's grinning again, and Sasuke allows his body to lie completely lax against the cushion. "And don't look so comfortable in my chair."

"You shouldn't have moved."

Shikamaru looks between the two of them, yet his gaze doesn't remain on Sasuke long before turning back to Naruto. "Constantly seeing you in this kind of state, Naruto, how incorrigible."

Sasuke gives Naruto a curious glance that Naruto tries to dismiss with a nervous smile obviously forced.

"Shush." With a glare far from convincing thrown Shikamaru's way, Naruto makes a quick shooing motion with his hand. "Now go away, you bad little man. Go away."

"I live here."

"What'd Kiba tell you about being technical like that?"

Shikamaru snorts but heads towards the small kitchen area near the back of the apartment. "Leave the door open for him, would you," he calls out.

On cue, Kiba enters through the threshold, carrying another case of beer and a black backpack hanging by its strap from over his shoulder. He takes off his shoes by scuffing the heels against the floor and leaves them stacked slapdash at the foot of the entryway. "Oi, Naruto. Let me borrow your TV again tonight."

"Che. Why should I even—"

"Ah, Sasuke," Kiba says, eyes slightly wide in surprise, "I didn't know you were going to be here, too."

Sasuke grunts with a slight nod.

Sock-clad feet take Kiba across the room, towards the narrow wooden stand sitting Naruto's TV, and he sets his backpack on the floor beside it. The expression worn on his face is almost painfully bright, maybe even a little furtive as he looks down at Sasuke. "Now don't you look like you just woke up?"

Naruto moves to close the door Kiba left open. The lock turns with an audible click while Naruto sends Kiba a glare from over his shoulder. "Don't even start, Kiba."

"Lighten up, Naruto. Who says I'm trying to start anything?" As Kiba turns his gaze from Naruto to Sasuke, if possible, the already broad grin across his face stretches even further. "Long time no see, huh?"

"No." Sasuke sits up in the beanbag chair, folding his legs and letting one arm fall over his lap. Back slightly hunched, he rests his face against his hand held up by the elbow of his other arm propped on his knee. "It's Friday. I just saw you Wednesday."

"With that kind of attitude, if I didn't know any better, I'd actually start to think you didn't want to see me anymore."

"Unfortunately, we share a class. I have no choice but to see you."

Kiba chuckles as Shikamaru forcibly relieves him of the case of beer in his hand and deposits it on the small square table right next to Sasuke. "Why so finicky with me all of a sudden? You never seem to have a problem with Na—"

"Natto," Naruto cuts in loudly. Too loudly. His cheeks tinge red at the absolute silence following the sudden attention drawn to him from everyone else in the room. "Ah...hehe, natto. It's so...so—who really likes natto anymore, eh?"

Kiba and Shikamaru simply continue to stare, but it's Sasuke who decides to answer.

"You know I do."

Naruto lets out a nearly indistinct squeak. "I mean, I—not that there's anything wrong with liking natto, because a lot of people like…natto, and I know you know that I know you do, so, um…yeah. Natto..."

"I'll leave this one in your very capable hands," Shikamaru says, not the least sardonic. Tearing open the packaged beer along the perforated line, he reaches inside for a can and pops the tab. "Since you claimed I had no business in it."

"This is sad, Naruto. Truly sad," Kiba says. "Even for someone like you, I don't think it can get much more pathetic than this."

Both arms lying over his lap, Sasuke watches Naruto, eyes slightly narrowed. "Why are you acting so weird, Naruto?"

"I'm not weird." Naruto sends a quick glare to Shikamaru and Kiba then turns back to Sasuke. He scoffs with an accusatory stare. "If anything, you're the one being weird. Who in their right mind forces other people to watch as much of those Korean dramas as you do?"

"You said you didn't mind watching them with me," Sasuke says, eyebrows knitted together. "I thought that's why you invited me over here."

Shikamaru pulls close to the TV the ostentatiously bright orange office chair from Naruto's desk placed against the wall. However, a snort comes through as soon as he takes a seat, all but failing to keep at bay poorly suppressed laughter before taking another swig of his beer.

Kiba doesn't even make the attempt. An arm lying on his stomach and a hand covering his face, he nearly doubles over howling. "C-classic, man. This is pure _gold_." He extends his arm he haphazardly waves in Naruto's direction. "You seriously couldn't make up this kind of shit even if you tried."

"I…Sasuke, I didn't—that's not what I was trying to—"

"Do you—do you," Kiba stammers, barely able to manage a few words through his obnoxious bouts of laughter, "d-do you need for us to leave, Naruto, to give you a l-little more time?"

Ridiculously flushed from his ears to his neck, Naruto does an about-face towards Kiba, voice low a strained whisper as he grips Kiba's shoulder before giving him a hard shove. "Shutupshutupshutup—_shut up_."

Unfolding his legs, Sasuke stands. He sort of frowns but then settles on giving Naruto a strange look. The sudden awkward tension in this atmosphere, obviously, there's some kind of inside joke going on he's not a part of. With the way those three are behaving, though, he's not entirely sure he'd even want to know if given the chance.

And Naruto claimed his relationship with Suigetsu and Karin was weird.

"Sasuke, where're you going?" Naruto leaves Kiba's side as soon as Sasuke bends over to pick up the Sign DVD box set.

"Leaving," Sasuke says, leaning down to place the box set next to the opened case of beer on the table. He stands upright to face Naruto with an expectant look that becomes more or less an impatient one when Naruto's distracted staring at him makes it apparent something else has Naruto's full attention. "I'll just see myself out."

Naruto blinks when Sasuke starts to move around him. "You don't have to—"

"I should be going anyway."

"Wait, I—" Naruto reaches for Sasuke with a hand that falls just short of touching his shoulder. "I—I'll come with you then," he rushes out.

Sasuke stops to turn back around. "Why?"

"Going to walk with Sasuke back to his place, Naruto," Kiba says, unable to hold back a series of giggling snorts, "how come you never offered to do that for me?"

"So help me, Kiba, I will walk your far too giggly ass straight out that window if you don't shut it—you live right down the hall."

Unloading a white game console from his backpack, Kiba just grins as he sets it on the floor.

Groaning, Naruto rubs the heel of his palm against his forehead. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with that C-cup girl you kept talking about yesterday?"

"Michiko, you mean." Kiba's ears perk. "No, she's a D-cup. _At least_. But that's not until tomorrow night. Getting the chance to go out with such a really cute girl, though," he says, wriggling his eyebrows with a lewd grin, "I might even get her to come to a couples hotel with me. I found a good one with a cheap rate that has a Hello Kitty S&M room, because Michiko told me about this one time when she tried—"

An empty can of beer hits him in the head, and Kiba cries out in pain, nursing the sore spot above his ear. "The hell was that for, Shikamaru?"

Picking up the remote lying on the floor, Shikamaru shrugs.

Sasuke scoffs. "Like anyone really wanted you to finish."

"Don't be so open about that sort of thing," Naruto says, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "Why are you even here anyway?"

"Oh. Right. Why I came over." From his backpack, Kiba pulls out an Xbox 360 game case reading the title Battlefield 3. He holds it up with an excessive flourish. "_This_."

"No shit." Earlier embarrassment forgotten, Naruto goes a little starry-eyed. He reaches down and snatches the game from Kiba with both hands. Still a little awed, his thumb absently rubs at the upper right corner of the case. "You got BF3? I thought this wasn't supposed to come out in Japan for another week?"

"Just snagged it off Shino."

"Lucky..."

"I know. That guy, I don't know how he gets his hands on this stuff, don't really care, either. Best. Roommate. Ever. You in?"

"Since you're already here," Naruto says, wry with a sort of half-grin as he throws the game to Kiba, "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Yosh. What about you, Sasuke?"

"I'm heading out. Some other time maybe."

"You sure?" Kiba says. "Promise I won't kick your ass this time. I'll even go easy on you."

Rolling forward in his chair, Shikamaru digs in Kiba's bag for a controller. "Last time I checked, it usually happens the other way around."

"Technicalities, man. What'd I already tell you about bringing that kind of thing into conversations where they don't belong?" Not waiting for a response, Kiba turns back to Sasuke. "As long as you're on my team, though. You have to be on my team. Because I like to win."

Sasuke declines again with a small shake of his head, thumbs retreating into the front pockets of his dark jeans. "I like to win, too. So even if I stayed to play, I sure as hell wouldn't be on your team."

"Okay, that was harsh." Hands pressing down on his knees, Kiba stands, cracking a grin as he takes a couple of steps towards Sasuke. "So needlessly cold, Sasuke. For such a smartass, you're lucky you're not all just talk."

"Like luck has anything to do with it, Kiba." Sasuke looks down then back up to Kiba with a small smirk. "Have fun getting your ass kicked by someone who's not me this time."

"All right. Put up or shut up." Kiba spreads his arms out in a grand gesture, still wearing that inane grin. "I can take you anytime. Anywhere. Any—"

"Down, boy." Rolling his eyes, Naruto pushes Kiba aside, taking his place in front of Sasuke.

Running a hand through his hair, Sasuke snorts. "I'll see you guys later," he says, walking towards the entryway with Naruto in tow.

Naruto stands by him as Sasuke slips into his shoes. "Hey..."

"Hmm?"

"You really don't have to go, you know," Naruto says, chewing on the left side of his bottom lip. "You can stay. I can even kick Kiba out if you want. He doesn't live here."

"I can still hear you, you know," Kiba calls out, connecting the HDMI cord he plugs into his Xbox to Naruto's TV.

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at Naruto. "And I do?"

"Well, no, but I—" Naruto frowns, the lines on his forehead becoming more pronounced. "What about our Sign marathon then? I thought we were going to—"

"Next Friday, right. Isn't that what you said? That's why I'm leaving it here."

"But isn't it Suigetsu's, though? Wouldn't he..."

"Suigetsu won't mind. He owes me."

"A lot of people do, it seems."

Sasuke laughs a little. "Just keep it, Naruto."

"You sure you don't want to—"

"I'm tired, and it's already late enough as it is. Besides, I need to get an early start on a new oil painting for my portfolio."

"That sketch of the bridge you're working on?"

Sasuke nods. "Yeah. So call me later tomorrow."

"Oh, well, um…okay." Naruto gives a soft kind of hesitant smile, obviously reluctant to agree. "Just remember to answer your phone, all right. Then we can have lunch, so you won't get bored."

There's a snicker from Kiba that's immediately silenced with a rude gesture from Naruto, who keeps his gaze focused on Sasuke.

"You mean so you won't get bored." Sasuke rolls his eyes, but the sigh he heaves isn't necessarily out of irritation. "Meet me at B studio around two. I'll take a break then. We can go to First Kitchen or something."

Naruto grins, eager and wide. "See? Told you. Ramen and kamaboko."

Shikamaru pauses to look up from popping the tab of another beer. "Not even going to ask because I don't even want to know."

Legs stretched out on the floor, Kiba refrains from making any commentary in favour of reaching an arm across Shikamaru to grab a can from the table. "Hey, don't drink so quickly without any consideration for the guy who actually bought the beer."

"Whatever." Returning Naruto's grin with a tiny one of his own, Sasuke gives him a light punch on the shoulder. "You're such a loser. Learn to do things without me sometime."

Naruto lowers his gaze to his bare toes he wiggles, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He lifts his head to give Sasuke this small, almost uncharacteristically shy sort of smile. "What if I'm not ready to do that just yet?"

"You two," Kiba says, suddenly beside Naruto with a beer in one hand and an arm draped around Naruto's shoulders, "you two are the absolute worst. Seriously. Spare me."

"If you know what's good for you," Naruto mutters darkly, "you'll be quiet, dog-breath."

Sasuke sends a wary glance to Shikamaru, who doesn't even bother to hide the fact he's been listening to his conversation with Naruto just as intently as Kiba.

"Someone please—_please_—put me out of my misery," Kiba says. "Matter of fact, put yourself out of your own misery."

"Kiba..."

"No, how can you not even—" Kiba gives Naruto an overstated look of disbelief he then turns on Sasuke. "Sasuke, you—you really don't—"

A hand's slapped over his mouth right before Naruto stomps hard on his foot, almost making him drop his beer, and Kiba lets out this strangled wail of pain intermingling with and eventually drowned out by this unruly laughter at Naruto's harsh whisper in his ear only shared between the two of them.

"So..." Removing his foot from Kiba's, as if none of it happened, as if Kiba isn't still snickering against his hand, Naruto directs his attention back towards Sasuke, smiles at him with this ridiculously wide smile that shouldn't be humanly possible, obviously overcompensating for his unease stemming from whatever Kiba didn't say.

Sasuke blinks.

Once. Twice. Two more times in succession, because he almost wants to ask. Whatever caused Naruto to panic, going to such lengths to quiet Kiba, it was more than enough to pique his interest, but a quick glance at Shikamaru makes curbing his curiosity seem the much more sensible option.

Leaned back against the orange chair, propping his feet on top of a large blue storage cube, amused, Shikamaru simply shrugs, the slightest hint of a knowing smile on his face Sasuke doesn't even want to ask about.

He still can't believe Naruto had the gall to claim his relationship with Suigetsu and Karin was weird, especially not when Naruto's relationship with Shikamaru and Kiba could be so...odd.

But they're Sasuke's friends, too, almost as close to him as he considers Naruto, incredibly brash idiot that he is, so maybe that kind of thing isn't to be completely unexpected.

"We're still on for tomorrow, right, Sasuke?" Naruto tones down his smile, regards him with such an easygoing kind of grin so very familiar, and Sasuke hums to confirm as he opens the door and steps out.

"Bye, Sha-shuke," Kiba coos, voice no longer stifled after he pulls Naruto's hand from his mouth. "Don't forget to—"

Naruto shoves him out of the entryway, practically knocking Kiba to the floor. "You better answer your phone, because I'm going to call you, okay. When you see my number, don't put me on—"

"Bye, Naruto." With a snort, reaching for the door, Sasuke closes it before Naruto can stall him any longer.

As soon as he's in the hallway alone, muffled laughter still loud begins to filter through the door, seemingly growing louder at the sound of Naruto's voice he does catch.

_"The hell was that stunt you two just pulled? Going on and on saying those kinds of things, you trying to ruin me or something?"_

Both hands retreating back to his pockets, he looks up with a sigh. He blinks at the nondescript light fixture directly above him. It flickers for a second or two then steadies, almost unreasonably bright as it illuminates nearly half the hall. Again, it wavers for a moment, but the light doesn't go out.

"Like ramen and kamaboko, huh," he says, soft with an even softer laugh made faint when his lips meet together in a small smile. "...okay.

Lowering his head, with a low hum, he starts to walk away.


	16. Life Goes On

_**Saby a:** tbh, I think it was a little much, too; I just really like my Sasuke and Naruto in some shade of idiot. Sasuke does get it eventually, so maybe that makes up for it_.

_..._

_"Don't have to. I already know it's mine."_

...

**Life Goes On**

"...I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this," Sasuke says, watching Naruto add the finishing touches to the piles of stacked pillows of varying sizes arranged neatly around them. "Where'd you even get so many of these?"

"I know a guy who knows a guy." Naruto grins. "But don't worry about it, okay—come on," he says, lowering Sasuke on their newish used bed bigger than their old ones they traded it in for. "It'll be fun."

The hands on his knees push them apart, and Sasuke makes room for Naruto settling between his legs. "Fun." He snorts, laying his neck on the white lumbar pillow propped close to the headboard of the bed. "Only you would think something like this would be fun."

"I made us a fort. Out of pillows." Sasuke's hair tickling his cheek, Naruto breathes in the faint smell of grapefruit from the conditioner Sasuke likes to use. "A pillow fort."

"You want to have sex in a pillow fort."

"Morning sex in a pillow fort," Naruto corrects.

Sasuke turns his face to the side, sighing at the hand curved around his side. "This is so childish."

"Having sex is childish?" Head drawn back, Naruto squints down at Sasuke. "What kind of childhood did you have?"

"Purposely saying that kind of thing," Sasuke murmurs, walking two fingers along Naruto's bare chest, "don't be such an idiot."

Amused, Naruto smiles, laughs with a light tug of his yellow shirt already faded after too many washes and maybe even more wears that Sasuke tends to steal sometimes. His hand slips underneath the soft material, makes Sasuke shiver in the wake of fingers slow touches barely there. It wanders the expanse of smooth skin, charting a path along the curve of Sasuke's spine leading to the broad band of black boxer briefs.

With a low hum, Sasuke reaches for Naruto's waist, thumbs dipping beneath the elastic of light grey boxers when he closes his eyes. "Slow today?"

"Not really." One hand flat on the bed, Naruto shifts up. His other hand pauses beneath Sasuke's lower back, encouraging Sasuke to lift his hips a little. He hisses when their erections brush. "Just being lazy right now."

"Same—" Dark eyes open with a jolt, and Sasuke tilts his head back, thumbs digging into Naruto's skin as he moves to meet another slow thrust. "Same thing."

Long and deep, Naruto breathes in. He breathes out with a shudder, dropping his head. A sharp roll of his hips presses Sasuke into the bed, and he stills, groans and holds them both there with a grip firm on Sasuke's side.

"...midterms aren't for another month." He starts to grind against Sasuke in small, tight circles, drawing out the motions as long as he can. "But it's, uh, it's already been more than a week since we had a chance to do anything close to this, you know."

"What are you trying to say?"

There's a sinuous curve to Sasuke's back that causes his shirt to hike up when he raises his arms to fold above his head, and Naruto helps slide the shirt further along, exposing a flat stomach and pushing the material seized by his hand up to Sasuke's chest.

"The time we have between work and school, lately, you've been using it to study too much."

"You could stand to study more."

Naruto makes a low noise in disagreement. His back forms a slight arc as he lowers his head, mouth hovering over the side of Sasuke's neck. "My grades say different."

"I've seen them." The bottom of Sasuke's palm taps Naruto's shoulder, lightly pushing him away. "You're delusional if you think they're anywhere near as high as mine."

"No, but you already know I get by well enough." Naruto's fingers trace along Sasuke's side to rest below his hip. "And what about that painting class I took last term? I had one of the highest grades."

"Only because it was an intro class. You can't paint worth shit."

"Still brought my up overall grade, didn't it?"

"Grades mostly based on participation, those kinds of things, they don't count."

"Jeeze, you can be such a snob sometimes." Naruto lets out a chuckle, voice growing low as he places himself over Sasuke, hands planted just below either side of the pillow Sasuke's lying on. "Does that mean I'm not good enough for you anymore?"

Reaching down between them, Sasuke cups the noticeable bulge in Naruto's boxers. "When have you known me to turn down _this_?" he says, emphasising with a firm squeeze.

"I bet you'd write property of Uchiha Sasuke on it if you could," Naruto says, grin wide and unabashed when Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "You actually would, wouldn't you?"

"Don't have to. I already know it's mine."

"Ha! I knew it. You only like me for my—"

"Tell me, Naruto," Sasuke breathes, words low and soft framed from the slightest hint of a grin. Long fingers flex around Naruto's confined erection, forming a loose hold before letting go of the thin cotton material gathered in his hand. A palm bears down hard on the base, and slowly, the tips of his fingers begin to trail along the length of Naruto's cock, narrowly avoiding the open fly where the head almost slips through. "...are you really complaining?"

Bottom lip caught behind his front teeth, Naruto groans. With a grunt, he bends one elbow on the bed to support his weight, grabbing Sasuke's wrist with his free hand to still the fingers again wrapping around his bulge.

"Okay, I think you should skip your Lit class," he says, voice a little strained when Sasuke's hand starts to move up and down. It's way too deliberate. "Y-yeah, you should definitely skip it."

"Why?"

"Because it's Lit. It's boring. Who says you really even need to learn so much about Akutagawa?" Naruto grits his teeth, moving against the fingers gradually beginning to add more pressure.

"Actually," he says, "we should just stay here all day."

"You're just horny."

"So?"

"Don't you have to leave for Super Camera?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to, but—"

"You work at a used camera shop. Surrounded by that much photography equipment, being in that kind of environment—"

"I'd rather be in you right now," Naruto murmurs, quick to push Sasuke's arm to the side. One deft movement has his body covering Sasuke, and he slips a hand beneath the back of Sasuke's thigh, kissing along Sasuke's lower jaw as rushed fingers drag down Sasuke's leg to rest behind his knee, raising it at his side and bringing Sasuke closer.

"N-naru—"

"Mm-hmm..." Eyes squeezed shut, Naruto rocks against Sasuke with a short series of shallow thrusts. The bed starts to creak, but it stops, and for a moment Naruto stills. Then he shudders, hisses and lets his head fall, hiding his face above Sasuke's chest.

Taking Naruto's chin between a forefinger and thumb, Sasuke raises Naruto's head, forcing Naruto to look at him.

"What?" Naruto stares back with an annoyed huff. "Are we doing this or not?"

Sasuke says his name again, stern with dark eyes narrowed just as unyielding.

The sun begins to peek through the small window from the other side of the room, and Naruto purses his lips, gaze focused on the thin streams of light flickering across Sasuke's face.

Sasuke frowns, finally deciding to release his hold on Naruto's chin. "All the trouble you went through applying for that job, crying and carrying on when you thought you weren't accepted, you're suddenly choosing today not to go?"

"First off, I wouldn't cry over that kind of thing," Naruto mutters, pointedly looking away. "...and I didn't say I wasn't going. Besides, old man Tazuna has me doing inventory all week anyway. Again."

"You never had a problem being assigned inventory before. There was even a time I couldn't get you to shut up about it."

"...I guess I just don't really feel like doing anything. Maybe it's just one of those days, you know."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. I think it is," Naruto says, tries to appease Sasuke with a smile that wavers and doesn't reach his eyes.

"...what's wrong with you, Naruto?"

"You keep making it harder for me to keep things to myself." Naruto laughs beneath his breath, but it almost comes out a low scoff instead. "I guess I'm not allowed to do that with you anymore, huh?"

He's not really expecting an answer, so it's no surprise when he doesn't receive one. Sasuke simply stares, watches him and waits, and Naruto's barely able to keep from squirming in the silence that seems to stretch too long between them.

After another second or two, he sighs, resting his head against Sasuke's chest. He lays an arm over Sasuke's side, finger absently drawing little spirals right above Sasuke's hip. "...you know those photos I submitted for the winter gallery showing—the ones I was talking about a couple months back?"

"What about them?"

"Yesterday, I, um...I found out none of them got picked, and I—not that it matters much at this point, but I—you like my stuff, don't you?"

"I let you hang it on the walls," Sasuke says, almost casually, but the corner of his mouth begins to turn down. "You've already met most of the requirements towards your degree. Don't tell me you want to declare another major."

"Ch. After almost four years at Tama? Hardly."

"I can't afford to put that kind of thing past someone like you," Sasuke says, running a hand through Naruto's hair.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Yeah right."

"What'd your advisor have to say about it?"

"Iruka?" Naruto tilts his head to peer at Sasuke. "Oh, well, he thinks they're still good, just probably not what the judges were looking for this year. He said he really liked my approach to using different lighting techniques, though.

"Then he suggested I probably shouldn't try to fit in so many elements at one time. But taking more obvious risks with that sort of thing, he said it shows a level of maturity unexpected for someone my age."

"Maturity? From you?"

"Hey, I can be mature when I want to be." The simple smile on Naruto's face turns teasing. "Although now that I think about it, maybe I should have just sent in some photos of you."

Sasuke snorts. "No."

"Yeah, I'm a little selfish about that kind of thing anyway," Naruto says, but his smile begins to falter, and he presses his lips together. "It's just, sometimes—sometimes, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, if I could ever be something I've always wanted to be.

"It's kind of funny because I, uh, I actually—for my birthday, when I turned four, I remember opening this little plastic blue and yellow toy camera. And I still have it, too. Not that it could ever compare to the cameras I have now, but my parents said I used to love that thing. Carried it everywhere—even tried to take it with me in the bath a few times. I don't really remember that part, but I..."

With a slow inhale, Naruto starts to relax, leaning into the fingers gently massaging his scalp.

"Ever since then," he says, "I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. Not just because of my dad, but because photography's something I love to do. And capturing those moments that are precious to me, I think I'm really good at it.

"But some days it gets hard. Even though I go by my mom's name, it still feels like I'll never be able to live up to my dad's. And being compared to him so much...

"Not to say I don't look up to him, though. I mean, he's my dad. Of course I look up to him. And yeah, I know there's nothing wrong with wanting to be like him. Not to mention, I really like that he's proud of me, that he's happy I'm following in his footsteps, but I still want to be my own person, too, you know."

Sasuke hums, giving Naruto a slight nudge with the inside of his foot sliding against Naruto's calf. "What happened to the Great Uzumaki Naruto who promised he'd be a world famous photographer because he'd make sure one day everyone would know his name?"

The quiet way Sasuke said his name, the way Sasuke's looking at him, calm with a subtle shift in his eyes making them soft and warm, Naruto stills. He tries not to fidget, fails, then swallows and lifts his head when the erection that all but went away earlier suddenly starts to come back. "...will you do that again?"

"What?"

"That. What you just said." Naruto licks his lips, raising himself up on his hands and knees climbing over Sasuke. His voice is a gruff whisper that continues to lower with his face inching closer to Sasuke's. "Say it again."

"...say what?"

"...Uzumaki Naruto-sama. Call me Naruto-sa—"

Naruto cries out, recoiling from the not so tender smack of Sasuke's palm connecting with the back of his head. "You bastard, what was that for?"

Carefully subdued resigned irritation replaces the look of dark eyes once soft and warm. "Ask me that again and the only thing I'll be calling you is dumbass."

"Like you don't already call me that enough as it is," Naruto grumbles. He sits up, scratching his head. "I thought you were supposed to be comforting me? How the hell's hitting me supposed to make me feel better?"

"You're the one who should be making me feel better about my regretful decision to constantly put up with you."

"Sasuke..."

"No, Naruto."

Naruto leans down, the side of his face brushing across Sasuke's cheek. "Just this one time."

"No."

"Come on, Sasuke, I'll even call you—"

"I'm not doing any kind of roleplay with you."

"But it's not a roleplay. You saying my name like that, it's this fantasy—"

"And it's going to stay a fantasy."

"—I didn't even know I had until now, with your voice starting off really, really low then getting really, really high while you're in that one position you really like, you know, when you're sitting on top of me and holding me down and really, _really_ ridi—

Naruto lets out a sharp hiss at the sting from his bicep, at the nails pinching a ridiculously tiny area of his skin.

"Seriously, Sasuke, we're in the middle of the beginning of having sex, and you want to get touchy because I mentioned wanting you to do something that you actually happen to like doing?"

"You're being too eager about it."

"But knowing you let me be close enough to do this with you, being able to have you here with me like this, that kind of thing can't be helped."

Sasuke pulls hard on the lobe of Naruto's ear, earning another hiss that then somehow mangles with a squawk, and he gives Naruto that look again, with the same kind of resigned irritation this time less subdued that makes him look like he's mentally pinching the bridge of his nose.

Then he pinches Naruto's bicep again.

"To go into that much detail so quickly," he says, after ignoring yet another exaggerated cry of pain from Naruto, "for a fantasy you didn't even know you had, you've put too much thought into it."

"Honestly, I know you only get like this when you're embarrassed," Naruto mutters, slipping an arm beneath Sasuke to lift his hips, "and okay, maybe I can admit it really does kind of turn me on in some weird way, but for once, I just want to survive having sex with you _without_ having to end up being hurt by you."

"S-stop circumventing." Sasuke grabs Naruto's arm, fingers squeezing when Naruto starts to move against him. "Don't make me go through the hassle of having to kick you off the bed."

Naruto grins against Sasuke's neck. "Let's just see you try to get rid of me."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Not even if you wanted it to be." Naruto raises his head, leaning into the warm hands that reach to hold his face, and he breathes in as Sasuke brings him down for a kiss.

Slowly, he begins to pull away, moaning at the loss of the mouth sucking on his bottom lip.

Sasuke watches him with this highly expectant stare, fingers light touches tracing small circles into Naruto's temples. "Are you still..."

"A little. Right now, though, it's okay being with you."

"Just okay?"

"Better," Naruto says, and he laughs, easier, lighter. "A lot better, all right." He lets his smile stretch wide across his face. "You're so damn full of it. Who knows how you still manage to have any room for my—"

The harsh tug on his hair doesn't keep Naruto from smiling, doesn't stop him from tightening his arm around Sasuke. "...but I'm okay. Really. Being around you, it's hard for me not to be."

Dropping his arms, Sasuke sighs, turning his head to the side. "...such an embarrassing guy."

"Around you maybe," Naruto says, laughs again, but he hesitates as the sound quickly begins to fade, "as long as you don't mi—"

"It's fine," Sasuke whispers, facing Naruto with a hand raised to tuck blond strands behind Naruto's ear. "You're already such an idiot, too, so it's fine."

"An idiot you can't get enough of."

Sasuke snorts. "I know better than to expect too much from you anymore."

"...so doing this," Naruto says, and his hips start to move with quick, shallow thrusts, "d-do you, uh, still think it's childish?"

"No, it's..." Throwing his head back, Sasuke releases a soft gasp, arching into Naruto's chest with arms that reach around Naruto's shoulders, bringing Naruto close and trying to hold him closer. "...it's fine."


	17. The Theory of Happiness

_For **bumbelbee91**, but I don't know what happened. I already said it'd be long, right, although I think I got a little carried away._

_This is from the reception of Sasuke's great aunt Kayou's (nekobaa) wedding. It takes place on the same day as Lead Me (ch.14) and probably a day or two before Like Nobody (ch.8)._

_Naruto and Itachi, I will say their relationship is kind of...special here. With them in mind, I think I was unintentionally poking fun at the overprotective older sibling trope, so being older brothers, there's this unspoken mutual understanding that allows them to get along. Plus, Naruto takes teasing a lot better than Sasuke._

_Also, there's Mei. And Sai. Because I really like Sai. But the rest of it sort of blew up in my face._

...

_"It's still a wedding, isn't it?"_

...

**The Theory of Happiness**

The air's a passing breeze that whips across his cheek, a cool prickling against his skin evoking the same strange sense of familiarity that had Sasuke fleeing the Heian ballroom on the second floor and taking refuge in the open-air bath on the roof.

He quickly dismissed himself from his parents, leaving them with some feeble excuse he doesn't even remember saying, the murmur of his own voice a memory vague unlike the sight of startled blue eyes.

Long strides took him from the banquet hall to the hotel's stairwell, where he let the heavy door shut behind him. It was slammed open before it had a chance to close, though, nearly hitting the wall with a harsh screech immediately drowned out by the loud echo of _Sasuke_ in the narrow stairwell.

He didn't stop, passing the exit door leading the fifth floor at the call for him to wait. The pounding of heavy footsteps followed. They clanged off the walls, grew louder and continued to loom closer as he opened the door to the twelfth floor.

To the right of him was the unattended entrance to the rooftop's outdoor bath. He already knew no one would be there. His aunt practically leased Hotel New Tanaka for the rest of the night, but it wasn't even eight yet. The majority of his family was probably still downstairs, a hundred or so people floating between the lavish receptions held across separate venues spanning three different floors.

Aside from his parents, there's a small chance anyone else took notice of him leaving. In that kind of atmosphere, it's doubtful anyone even gave a second thought to Naruto following him.

Once heavy footsteps become light, tread with an evident restraint that gradually brings Naruto to stand in front of him, and Sasuke sighs when Naruto takes a seat on the uncomfortably small wooden stool beside him.

It's quiet between them for a while. Underscored by the faint rush of water and rising steam, the silence stretches for a moment or two Sasuke doesn't care to measure with time. The soft light from the lamps above them illuminate the heated water below, and he stares at the wide end of the bath tapered on one side by large grey stones smooth beneath the soles of his black dress shoes.

The short legs of the stool scrape against the levelled rock as Naruto shifts. "...you know we're not allowed to wear shoes in this kind of place, right?" he says. "The sign on the door out front said so."

Folding his arms over his knees, Sasuke leans forward with a low hum. He lays his head on top of his arms, forcing another sigh as he turns to face Naruto.

"As comfortable as these little stools actually aren't, looking down from up here on the roof, it gives a really nice view of Yamaguchi," Naruto says. "Sitting with you under the stars like this, it makes the mood feel really roman—"

"Don't say it."

Naruto chuckles, rolling up to his elbows the sleeves of his white dress shirt. Hands clasped together, forearms resting on top of his legs, he leans over, catching Sasuke's gaze. There's a slight narrowing of his eyes, making Sasuke the focus of a momentary discerning glance, but then Naruto smiles a little, keeping his expression light. "It's bad enough you like to leave me on my own with your brother, but you weren't trying to leave me to fend for myself against your parents, were you?"

The words are almost enough to make Sasuke smile, almost, but he doesn't reveal a small upturn the corner of his mouth that nearly does come through. "No."

"...then what I said back there," Naruto says, voice lowering with the beginning traces of a frown, "you're not mad at me for that, are you?"

Sasuke purses his lips, swallows and tries to keep steady his voice already on the verge of wavering. "I'm not mad, Naruto. I just...just needed some air."

"Some air?"

"Yeah." Sasuke inhales, closing his eyes then opening them again with an exhale. "But introducing yourself to my parents like that, what were you thinking? It's my aunt's wedding."

"It's still a wedding, isn't it?"

Slowly, Sasuke sits up, letting his arms fall to lie in his lap. "...what are you saying?"

"Asking your parents to accept me, wanting them to take care of me like a son from now on, what's so wrong about that?"

Sasuke's more than well aware his mouth is gaping. He felt the slow movement a gradual parting of his lips that normally precedes something even remotely intelligible coming out, but this time nothing did. Nothing does. There's no sound at all. Caught in some kind of stupor, stilted, he can only stare.

"You remember what I told you earlier, right," Naruto says, giving him this small deliberate grin Sasuke knows had the potential to be a shit-eating mess if Naruto wasn't consciously holding it back, "about being a good brother-in-law?"

"I didn't think you were being—" Sasuke groans, knocking over his stool while bending knees that straighten as he stands.

Of course, Naruto stands with him, stays right beside him with that same stupid grin still somehow able to make Sasuke's breath hitch even after all this time. "Get away from me, Naruto."

"You don't mean that. Not after letting me follow you all the way up—"

"If I wasn't so concerned about making a scene on my aunt's wedding day, I'd kill you."

"That's, um, reassuring, I guess?" Naruto says, making another stupid face because he still hasn't stopped grinning.

"I can't believe you actually—you're just so..."

"I'm what?"

"You're so..._you_."

Naruto's eyebrows rise with a confusion obviously feigned, obviously teasing coupled with the grin that simply won't die. "I'm _me_?"

Sasuke tries to curb his frustration with his fingers curling into a fist defying the increasingly strong urge to hit Naruto. He closes his eyes instead. "You're such a...such a—"

"Hey, relax." Naruto laughs, placing a hand on Sasuke's forehead that moves to push away the hair fallen over Sasuke's eyes. "I only wanted to make a good first impression, okay."

"Naruto..."

"I wasn't trying to embarrass you."

"You didn't embarrass me."

"If you could only see your fa—"

"I don't blus—shut up, Naruto."

The slight weight of Naruto's forehead resting against his own prompts Sasuke to open his eyes. Sighing, he lets himself sag a little, held rapt beneath the gaze of vivid eyes almost too blue, and he shivers at the warm breath from the lips so close to his. He reaches for Naruto with thumbs absently trailing along the sides of his face, kisses him languid and lush, but he pulls back because he doesn't want to give Naruto the opportunity to even think about getting carried away.

"I'm sorry," Naruto murmurs, pressing his lips against the corner of Sasuke's mouth.

"No, you're not."

Naruto makes a low noise in agreement. "Yeah, I'm not sorry."

Sasuke snorts, pushing away from him with a shove hard enough to make Naruto stumble but not fall, because he's not going to admit he doesn't want Naruto to be sorry, either.

Naruto just laughs, though, overtly obnoxious and exceedingly pleased, like he knows what Sasuke's thinking anyway, as if a simple shove could possibly be enough to convey a gamut of emotions becoming increasingly difficult for Sasuke not to let show around him.

Yet with Naruto, Naruto who already knows him so well, to Naruto, sometimes, even the most trivial thing can be more than enough.

"Come on, Sasuke—wait."

As Sasuke begins to walk away, arms grab him from behind, pulling his back against Naruto's chest. The loose hold stops him right in front of the exit, but he doesn't try to break it. He keeps his gaze ahead, fixed on the large, stylised character reading men printed in white over the wide blue cloth hanging from the open doorway.

Naruto rests his chin on Sasuke's shoulder, breathing against Sasuke's neck. "So..."

"My jacket's probably wrinkled enough as it is, and you're making it worse. Let go."

"Not going to try to run out on me again?" Naruto says, but he doesn't hesitate to comply, lets out this self-satisfied little sigh, and circles around to stand in front of him wearing a soft kind of smile so ridiculously simple that makes him look so incredibly stupid.

"I look stupid, huh? That's what smiling at you gets me?"

Sasuke gives a light hum, reaching again with both hands for Naruto's face. "It does."

"Well, since I'm starting to feel kind of cold, would I still be stupid if I said I really wanted to jump in the bath right now?"

"...idiot," Sasuke breathes, "you shouldn't have left your jacket at the table."

"Maybe," Naruto says, prolonging each syllable, "unless you want to find another way of warming ourselves up out here?"

"Why are you always so—"

"Shh. I think we were almost having a moment."

Sasuke laughs soft at Naruto's grin, easing into another kiss quiet and brief.

Leaning closer, Naruto makes a low noise content at the fingers threading through his hair. "Ready to head back inside?"

Sasuke breathes in and breathes out. His hands tug with a light grip gentle on Naruto's hair. Again, he breathes in then releases a long sigh. "...okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

...

With a quick press of a button, they take the elevator back to the ballroom instead of the stairs. Ten floors of not so subtle teasing provoking Sasuke's not so subtle, far too specific and carefully thought-out almost not threats to do unmentionable things to certain parts of his body he'd rather not think of, they reach their destination.

It isn't until the elevator opens, however, that Naruto finally admits that the idea of introducing himself to Sasuke's parents with the open confession of his feelings about Sasuke was actually inspired by the conversation he had with Itachi this morning—the same conversation from earlier when Itachi offered to treat him to lunch at Shinoda tomorrow for some kind of mini fugu-themed high level cuisine, but Naruto avoids bringing that up again.

He also makes a strategic decision by taking caution in not bringing up the subject of Sasuke's cheeks, either.

"With your parents," he says, "your brother said it was best to be less obviously direct."

Sasuke stills, eyes wide for a moment before he all but flings Naruto though the elevator doors, a hand on Naruto's arm dragging him towards the other end of the dimly lit hall, far away from the collective noise coming out of the banquet room.

"Taking advice from my brother," he hisses, "you two talk to each other behind my back?"

Naruto isn't sure if Sasuke's going to strangle him or kiss him. He isn't sure about a lot of things concerning what Sasuke might or might not do, even if Sasuke's never actually tried to strangle him before. As torn as Sasuke looks between the two, though, really, Naruto would prefer the kissing.

He likes that.

"We talk sometimes. Or actually, we've talked a couple times. Not a lot, but enough, I should think." He spares a thoughtful glance to the ornate light fixture on the wall, distracting himself from the red barely tingeing Sasuke's slightly puffed cheeks. "Although I'm not sure that he ever gave me a choice about it."

Sasuke deflates against him, squeezing Naruto's arm a little too hard. "Naruto..."

"He made me voluntarily give him my number, you know."

"No one can force you to voluntarily do something. That defeats the purpose of doing something voluntarily."

"Your brother can be really convincing when he's being nice."

Letting go of Naruto's arm, Sasuke raises his head. "He's always nice."

"Which is my point."

Sasuke gives him a funny look. "You were forced to voluntarily give my brother your number because he's always nice?"

"Exactly."

Sasuke blinks.

"He just has this way of looking at you. Like the first time we met, the way he just kept smiling at me. Your mom did it, too. Earlier, when you told her who I was, she didn't stop smiling at me.

"I mean, both your parents were really nice to me, formally nice even, but right then, it kind of felt like your mom was staring me down. Really hard. Like that thing you do sometimes, when you get this really cute little smile that makes me think you're going to kiss me or something but then you just end up causing me pain—yeah, almost like what you're doing now if you were smiling. Except a whole lot worse. And you're not a girl."

Sasuke's left eye starts to twitch.

"Not that I'm saying you look like your mom or anything. Only, you kind of do. Because she's your mom. So looking like her, that kind of thing really can't be helped. Just like I—"

"I should have pushed you off the roof when I had the chance," Sasuke murmurs, pulling back from a kiss too short-lived. "At least I wouldn't have to deal with you talking so much."

"Or you can keep doing that." Naruto shrugs, but the grin curling his lips starts to turn playful. "I don't mind. Really."

Hasty fingers reach to tug on blond strands, again briefly bringing Naruto's mouth against his, and Sasuke sighs, reluctantly letting his hand fall from Naruto's hair.

"Still nervous?"

Sasuke gives him this quiet kind of smile, still a little more strained than it normally would be, but at least it's better than the attempts from earlier. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Rubbing his hand along Sasuke's arm, Naruto nods with a low hum. "You should. Being around your whole family, it's weird that they're so polite. Not even the expected normal polite but ridiculously polite."

"What's wrong with being polite?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering how come you're the exception."

"They don't know you like I do."

"Hey—"

"Come on. I don't want anyone to think we left early without saying anything."

Naruto jogs a few steps to catch up with Sasuke leading them towards the ballroom. "Because you suddenly have the need to pretend you can be polite."

"Only when I'm not around you. But since we're sharing a table with Itachi and—"

"Wait a minute—I thought it was just going to be the two of us? Sitting alone. Together. Without your brother. You know. As in me and you. And not Itachi."

"Like you didn't already see the place cards." Sasuke smiles a little, another hesitant curve to thin lips that almost slips away, and then he starts to laugh, low and soft but noticeably less tense. "You're not getting cold feet on me, are you?"

"Me?" Naruto scoffs. "No. Even if Itachi has the home field advantage, at least we're still sort of in a public setting."

Smile fading, Sasuke stops, abrupt, right before they reach the double doors held wide open. He lowers his head, face shadowed from the soft light in the room escaping into the dim hall. "When you say things like that, Naruto," he whispers, nearly lost beneath streams of conversation already loud against the music playing faint in the background, "when you—I don't...what am I supposed to do?"

Hard, Naruto swallows, but he makes a reach for Sasuke's hand, giving it a firm squeeze with his fingers laced between Sasuke's only slightly shaky this time around. "...stay with me?"

...

Although the ballroom's a little less crowded than it was before, it's still filled with a considerable number of Sasuke's family members Naruto doesn't know. A lot of older people mostly, which probably explains why he's been on the receiving end of so much formality.

Probably explains the enka music, too. Not that it's bad. That style of traditional sounding music, he just doesn't have a preference for it. Sasuke did say his Aunt Kayou used to perform enka when she was younger, though, making small tours around the Chuugoku region with her parents sometime during the late forties and early fifties, when that kind of music started to become popular after the war.

There's even a rumour still floating around that when she was sixteen, after a concert in Hiroshima, she turned down an offer to sing with Koga Masao, who Sasuke said was a notable guy in the genre, but then Sasuke also said the majority of his family's no more than a bunch of old-fashioned gossipmongers too caught up in the history of their lineage and far too entertained by even the slightest hint of a scandal.

When Naruto pointed out how that pretty much described Sasuke around anything that had to do with the name Uchiha, Sasuke pinched him.

But with each step further into the spacious ballroom, it's easy to see how much respect Sasuke has for his family. Heading for their assigned seats all the way on the other side, Sasuke steers them through the gaps between moderately sized round tables and scattered groups of people, pausing to acknowledge the older family members he didn't get a chance to greet during the wedding. He takes his time, more polite than he usually is every once in a while, using the really formal kind of language Naruto wouldn't have even known Sasuke knew before the wedding.

Honestly, Naruto's not that familiar with such a humble form of honorific speech, never having a need to learn more than the standard etiquette everybody already knows in order to get by. He's quick on his feet, though, following Sasuke's lead with a polite bow of his head each time Sasuke excuses them to leave, and if he gets this really light feeling in his chest at the fact Sasuke keeps referring to the two of them as _us_, well, Naruto won't fault himself for that.

They're almost halfway there when Sasuke just freezes, almost making Naruto bump into him.

"What?"

Trying too hard not to seem obvious, little by little, Sasuke starts to backtrack, heading towards the corner at the end of the long buffet style table placed against the wall. "Nothing."

"Uh, tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't our table the other way?"

"Never mind that. Just keep moving."

"Why?" Naruto looks around the room, trying to find out what caused Sasuke to turn around. "What'd you see back there?"

Impatient, Sasuke gives him a light nudge, finger pressing into Naruto's side. "You're being too conspicuous. Hurry up before he sees me."

"Before who sees you?"

"Little cousin," drones a voice from behind him, and Naruto starts at the sudden appearance of some guy practically breathing down the back of his neck, muttering a curse under the cover of an exhale.

"I'm too old for you to still be calling me that, Sai," Sasuke says, dropping the formality, resigned with the restrained kind of annoyed sigh Naruto's heard more than once or twice.

The guy who obviously doesn't understand what personal space is—Sai, whose name sounds an awful lot like the guy Sasuke was warning him about earlier—steps from around Naruto to stand right beside Sasuke, creating a small circle between the three of them. "I'm almost under the impression you were trying to avoid me."

He looks at Sasuke with a strange sort of smile. Beneath the questionable gleam in his eyes, it spreads slow across his face, giving off this almost artificial effect that makes the smile appear lopsided.

It's a little off-putting actually.

Apparently, Sai's smile doesn't bother Sasuke, though. He returns the look with one of his more bored expressions, but it's with an underlying ease Naruto immediately picks up on, because it's the same kind of familiarity Sasuke has with him.

"Deliberately walking in the opposite direction after seeing you," he says, "I didn't think I could be any more subtle."

Sai just continues to smile.

Naruto looks between the two of them. There's a passing resemblance, he'll admit, but nothing he would've caught if he didn't know they were cousins. Sai's eyes aren't as dark. His hair's cropped short and more of a brown than Sasuke's nearly jet black. He's a lot paler, too, like he hasn't seen the light of day in years.

Give or take, he's got a few good centimetres on Sasuke. He looks a little older, maybe closer to Itachi's age, but still probably one of the younger members of Sasuke's family Naruto's seen so far. There aren't too many of them. When Naruto asked about it earlier, after the ceremony, Sasuke admitted to being the youngest, only a couple months behind Tamaki, the bride's granddaughter.

"Kagami mentioned you bringing a guest." For the tiniest second, Sai studies Sasuke, but then just as quickly sets his gaze on Naruto.

"Who are you?" he says, tone a little too curt, almost like he already knows the answer to his own question.

Apparently Sasuke isn't the only exception in his family.

Before Naruto can introduce himself, though, the Uzu from Uzumaki right on the tip of his tongue, Sasuke cuts him off.

"Leaving—he's leaving." Sasuke gives Naruto a pointed look he then turns on Sai. "We're both leaving."

Not leaving, Naruto frowns at the sudden change in behaviour. "Sasuke, what're you—"

"You're Naruto then. Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke groans, mumbling something about his family being too nosy for their own good.

"How'd you—"

"You're difficult to miss," Sai says, glancing at Naruto's hair. He stares at him with a disturbing kind of intensity, like he's somehow trying to commit Naruto's face to memory. "How long have you been having sex with Sasuke?"

Naruto balks.

"The next time I say we're leaving," Sasuke says, clipped, "we're actually leaving."

"Considering your propensity to shy away from most people outside of our family, Sasuke, the mere fact you invited Naruto here," Sai says, "to this kind of family oriented occasion, not too dissimilar from Itachi's situation regarding Mei, I feel it's safe to conclude the two of you must be in a relationship that involves sex."

Of all people, Naruto knows he's not someone known for his tact, but really, this guy's painfully blunt.

Which, of course, doesn't mean Naruto can't be just as straightforward.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he hisses. "Making that of kind assumption, being so open about other people's personal lives and trying to violate their priva—"

"So you are having sex."

Again, Naruto balks.

"I'm only making an observation."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt you to keep those kinds of inappropriate observations to yourself. You shouldn't be so interested in that sort of thing anyway."

"Sai's just trying to get under your skin," Sasuke says, reaching up to give Sai's off-white bowtie a sharp tug that makes it lie crooked below Sai's chin. "A guy who makes a hobby out of provoking people, don't listen to—_what are you doing_?"

Two fingers pulling back the collars of Sasuke's jacket and shirt, Sai peers down at Sasuke's neck, near his collarbone, inspecting the smallest little blemish on pale skin. "I was curious to see if there was anything on your neck."

Batting away Sai's hand, Sasuke hurries to adjust his clothes.

"And there is," Sai says, seemingly unaffected by Sasuke's glare that's then directed to the last person of their three-man circle.

Recognising the exposed blemish as the hickey he left this morning, Naruto chuckles a little, feeling a guilty flush burning his cheeks that's really close to taking over his entire face.

As bad as Sasuke might want to make it out to be, they actually weren't doing anything more than kissing, the real heated sort of dazed kissing Sasuke likes to do whenever he's really anxious about something but refuses to admit it. Staying in a really nice Western hotel or not, being in Yamaguchi for his aunt's wedding, it wasn't the right kind of atmosphere to do anything heavy. So they didn't.

Yet while Naruto can't say he didn't notice the blemish, it was still low enough on Sasuke's neck that no one else should have noticed. Which is why he didn't exactly tell Sasuke about it. Besides, it's not like Sasuke hasn't left some incriminating marks on his skin, either, like the ones all over his thighs that one time, but the hickey was covered well enough by Sasuke's shirt, even with the first couple of buttons undone.

Unless someone knew where to look for it, they wouldn't have been able to find it. And because he left it there this morning, he should have been the only someone able to find it.

Definitely not a certain perverted someone who shouldn't have even been looking for something like that in the first place. And definitely not the same certain perverted someone who's being a little too attentive staring at Naruto's neck.

"Personal space—_personal space_," he almost squeaks, backing away from Sai taking a step towards him.

Thankfully, Sai's able to get the hint this time, but it only seems to divert his attention somewhere it sure as hell has no place being.

"For someone already so lacking in more obvious areas, shrinking when it comes to the mention of your sexual relationship with Sasuke," he says, with a glance at Naruto's crotch that settles there a few seconds too long, "does that mean you suffer from performance issues, as well?"

Again, for the third time, Naruto balks.

There's a slight twitch to Sasuke's left eye, the telltale twitch of irritation. "You're being this annoying on purpose. I know you are."

"Look, not everybody appreciates when people talk so freely about that kind of thing, all right." Naruto steps in front of Sasuke, lowering his voice he keeps a harsh whisper. "What are you even looking down there for, huh?"

"You're right," Sai says. "There's nothing to see."

"Just what are you trying to—"

"Bye, Sai." Grabbing Naruto's elbow, Sasuke gives it a light pull.

Naruto doesn't budge, though. He shakes his head, brushing off the fingers trying to cut off the circulation to his arm. "No, tell him, Sasuke. Tell him how big I really am down—"

Hand tightening around Naruto's elbow, in one controlled motion so quick Naruto doesn't even realise what happened until after the fact, Sasuke all but yanks him to his side. "As soon as we get back to our room," he says, voice low the dangerous kind of calm that probably shouldn't excite Naruto as much as it actually does, "I will kill you."

"Is that a euphemism for sex?"

"Hey, you," Naruto says, almost jabbing Sai's chest with his finger, "you dirty pervert—you don't get to be so concerned about that kind of thing."

With a long-suffering sigh, Sasuke drops Naruto's elbow and moves to push down Naruto's hand, stepping in between him and Sai. "I should have left you in Narita."

Naruto just gives Sai this look, this completely disbelieving sort of gobsmacked look because he swears the guy is silently laughing at him from behind Sasuke's back, swears he sees a hint of a tiny smile sneaking onto Sai's face, which isn't fair at all, since the fact the conversation somehow managed to snowball into the quality of his and Sasuke's sex life, it's really not his fault. "But Sasuke, Sai's the one who—"

"Leave Naruto alone, Sai." Sasuke turns narrowed eyes on Sai. "Stop trying to antagonise him."

"I wasn't aware I was being antagonistic."

"Of course you weren't," Naruto mutters.

"Does it upset you, discussing the matter of sex as inconsequential as the size of your—"

"I dare you to—"

"Both of you," Sasuke says, raising two fingers that massage his temple, "shut up before you cause some kind of scene."

From their place in the corner, Naruto takes a quick glimpse around the room. Miraculously, somehow, they actually hadn't attracted any onlookers. It almost makes him wonder if this kind of thing with Sai is normal enough to be expected.

"Sai."

Sai blinks at Sasuke, wearing the confused kind of innocent expression that doesn't fool Naruto for a second.

It doesn't fool Sasuke, either.

"Don't pretend to be stupid for the sake of being stupid. That's his job," he says, making a small gesture with his head towards Naruto.

"What the—"

Sasuke gives Naruto's grey tie a light pull, reaching up with both hands to straighten Naruto's collar. "Naruto, you idiot," he murmurs, "you dumb _idiot_," he breathes, soft and close against Naruto's mouth still too far away growing even farther as he steps back, "I told you not to listen to Sai."

At the loss of contact, Naruto only feels a little petulant, but he's sorely tempted to accidentally mess up his tie on purpose just to have an excuse to bring Sasuke back to him.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto turns at the soft gasp of surprise that came from behind him, completely ignored and almost bowled over by a blur of red that all but runs into Sasuke's arms.

Keeping his balance, Sasuke catches the blur with a grunt, returning the arms held around his waist with a careful embrace. "Tamaki, what are you—"

"It really has been too long, hasn't it?" Tamaki says, releasing Sasuke with a warm smile. The two wide bracelets white and gold on her wrist make a series of light clinking noises as she pulls at the ruffled v-shaped collar of her sleeveless burgundy dress. They fall over her hand when she reaches down to pull at the hem stopping right above her knees. "I know we didn't get a chance to speak during the ceremony, but Aunt Mikoto said you were still here."

"...Tamaki, I wasn't—I wouldn't have left without saying anything."

"Oh, I know," Tamaki says, absent with a soft hum as she glances around the room. "So this is where you've been hiding all this time..." Standing on the toes of her brownish bronze flats, she peeks at Sai from around Sasuke's shoulder. "Keeping Sasuke to yourself like this, Sai, how horrible of you."

"Keeping Sasuke to myself?" Nonchalant, Sai brushes the back of his hand against the buttoned cuff of a black sleeve, shifting the majority of his weight on one foot. "No, I believe his date is the horrible one," he says, giving a slight tilt of his head in the direction behind her.

"Your date, Sasuke? Where..." Brows knitted, Tamaki turns around before giving Sasuke a chance to speak, finally taking notice of Naruto standing behind her.

"Hi." Naruto chuckles, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I'm Naruto. Sasuke's date, I guess."

"I—I am so sorry. Please forgive me. It wasn't my intention to ignore you." Back almost ramrod straight, she gives a short bow, head lowered and hands folded in front of her. "I'm Sasuke's cousin. Tamaki."

"Really, being the same age, you don't have to be so formal around me. I'm just—"

"But you're that Uzumaki Naruto, aren't you?" Arms falling to her sides, Tamaki raises her head. She shares a brief look with Sai, who gives a slight nod. Her mouth forms into a small _oh_ of understanding when she faces Naruto again. "The one everyone's been talking about, yes?"

"How'd you—"

"Your hair," Sai says, laying a hand on top of Sasuke's head. He manages to slip in a few stiff pats over dark hair before a clearly annoyed Sasuke pushes the hand away.

Naruto blinks at the sudden uncanny feeling he's getting. The whole gossiping too much thing, maybe Sasuke was right after all.

Tamaki watches him for a moment that doesn't last long, but then she gives him this pretty smile, pushing behind her ear long strands of light brown hair that frames her face. She leans closer to Sasuke to whisper in his ear, except not really, because what she says is still loud enough for Naruto to hear. "And he's so handsome, too, Sasuke."

"T-tamaki," Sasuke chokes out.

Laughing a little, Naruto blushes under her gaze. Not to say he thinks he's some sort of idol or anything, but he knows he's not the ugliest guy around, either, if people's reactions to his dad's looks are anything to go by, so being admired like that, it's still nice to be told that kind of thing from time to time.

"For someone in Naruto's condition," Sai says, "unfortunate as it is to suffer from that kind of deficiency, alongside the already inevitable sexual frustration, I suppose he has to be able to compensate for his inability to—"

Fingers tight around Sai's wrist, Sasuke hisses something to him Naruto doesn't catch. Whatever he said, though, it just ends up curving Sai's lips into this unsettling kind of knowing smile that doesn't do a lot to inspire any confidence.

Sasuke's cousin or not, he's really, really starting to not like that guy.

Tamaki spares a quick look to Sai, mirroring Sasuke's glare that's more exasperated than anything close to being intimidating. It seems this kind of thing with Sai actually is normal enough to be expected.

"Please excuse our cousin," Tamaki says, cheeks tinted a light pink as she gives Naruto another one of those pretty and polite smiles, "sometimes he can be a little..."

"I always thought—" Sai starts to say, but Sasuke doesn't let him finish.

"Don't, Sai."

"Although he really does mean well," Tamaki says, "really," she says again, almost like she's trying to convince herself. "He just—well, anyway, Naruto," she says brightly, "I apologise for making such a hasty request, but please allow me to borrow Sasuke for a little while, to take him upstairs. I promise to return him to you quickly."

"You can't just make these kinds of decisions on your own," Sasuke says, not bothering to hide the slight tug of his lips turning into a frown.

"I'm not." Tamaki looks up at him, linking her arm around Sasuke's elbow and holding him close. "I'm asking Naruto."

"That's not what I—"

"Of course, you're welcome to come, too, Naruto."

"I, um..." Not knowing what he should say, Naruto looks to an unhelpful looking Sasuke for help. "I don't think that's really my decision to make..."

"Being someone so close to Sasuke," Tamaki says, "I'm sure Uncle Teyaki and Aunt Uruchi would like to meet you." She squeezes Sasuke's arm held against her side. "They've been asking about you all night, Sasuke."

Sasuke stills for a moment, a movement so slight and nearly imperceptible it almost doesn't happen, but it's still something Naruto knows Sasuke well enough by now not to miss. "I..."

"You should go, you know," Naruto says, wearing the wide kind of reassuring grin that usually gets Sasuke to go along with him, because Sasuke's been using him as a crutch ever since they got here, and really, despite all his joking earlier, he'll be okay without Sasuke for a few minutes.

Sasuke hesitates. "What about you?"

"Ah, that, well, actually, I feel like taking a break anyway, so I'll just wait at our table. Plus, I want to get some more mushroom rice. And pork miso. And some more of those tiny little salt-grilled chicken skewers. Probably another piece of braised pork. Maybe some of the shrimp tempura udon, too, since I haven't had a chance to try that yet. Oh, and another piece of that really pretty looking mousse cake, before it's all gone. Raspberry and white chocolate together, I didn't think I'd like it so much, but it really is that good."

Sai and Tamaki just stare at him, but Sasuke lets out a small sigh.

"What? It is."

"If you'd rather stay here, Naruto, I'll be more than happy to keep you company," Sai chimes in unnecessarily. Very unnecessarily.

Although if it makes Sasuke feel more comfortable about leaving him, Naruto won't mind putting up with Sai a little while longer, even when Sai starts giving him that lopsided smile he gave Sasuke earlier, the one where—okay, maybe he really does mind, but that doesn't mean he's actually going to change his mind.

"Hey," he says, gives this small little smile that's just for Sasuke, "I'm me, remember."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Sure, sure, that's what you always say." Naruto laughs with another wide grin. "I'll be right here, though, okay."

"Like you have anywhere else to go."

"Not without you."

Sasuke snorts. "You're such an idiot."

"I know."

"Thank you, Naruto. It was a pleasure to meet you," Tamaki says, soft with the gentle kind of smile that almost makes Naruto wonder if there's something she's not saying, but she turns away from him before he can ask. "We should hurry, Sasuke. I don't want to be stuck playing flower cards with Aunt Uruchi's group again this year."

"W-wait, Tamaki," Sasuke says, trying to not stumble as Tamaki pulls him away, "who said anything about playing flower cards?"

His voice starts to fade in the distance, disappearing as they reach the double doors, and Naruto blinks when he notices Sai watching him, reminding him he's not alone.

"...what?"

Sai keeps staring, but unlike before, this time the look seems more assessing. Less...whatever the hell it was he was trying to do earlier. "You're very...strange."

Really? Of all the things this perverted guy has the nerve to come up with, he's the strange one?

"Yet with the way you behave around Sasuke, assuming you've known him long enough," Sai says, "would you say you're able to satisfy his needs?"

"Tch. A guy like you asking that kind of thing."

"Do you feel you're able to fulfil his emotional needs, I should say, given how adamant you feel about your lack of sexual—"

"Not trying to be rude or anything," Naruto says, casual, a finger and thumb pulling on the lobe of his ear, "since you're Sasuke's cousin and all, but I don't think any of that's your business to know."

"So you don't?"

There's a sharp edge to the corner of Naruto's mouth. "What I don't like is what you're implying."

"Nothing," Sai says, expression a little too bland, "I'm simply asking a question."

"Look, Sasuke's an adult. He can take care of himself. It's not up to you to decide what he does with his life."

"Yes, all of those things are true." Sai closes his eyes, head slightly cocked to the side. A small quirk to his lips almost looks like a smile. "Although I still wonder what my little cousin sees in you. It's rare that Sasuke allows himself to become this emotionally attached to anyone outside of our family. That Sasuke even brought you here, you must be a very special person, Uzumaki Naruto."

Honestly, Naruto's not sure if he should take that as a compliment or not. He really can't tell with someone like Sai. Can't really say he wants to, either, after this sudden personality change, but at least the tension on his part's a little less awkward with Sai not talking about sex. "Uh, thanks? I guess..."

Sai opens his eyes. He still has that smile on his face, that uneven smile that's probably what Sai thinks is supposed to be inviting or something, except it kind of makes Naruto want to take a few steps back instead.

Just as he's about to head for the dessert table, however, a familiar voice calling for Sai has them both turning to see Obito making his way over, and Naruto grins as Obito claps a hand on Sai's shoulder.

He met Sasuke's uncle right before the wedding, while the guests were being ushered in. Almost late, Obito was the last person to arrive, having stopped to help a couple of tourists who barely knew Japanese find their way around the city, because that's just the kind of guy he is, the genuinely nice kind of relatable guy Naruto felt an instant attraction to despite the nearly thirty-year age gap between him.

"My nephew's not giving you a hard time, is he?" Adjusting large black rimmed glasses, Obito returns Naruto's grin with a friendly one of his own. It takes away from the streaks of grey in chin length dark hair held back with a tie, makes him look a lot younger than he actually is.

"I only asked a few questions," Sai says. "I don't see the harm in being curious."

Removing his hand from Sai's shoulder, Obito laughs. "Maybe so, but knowing your conflicting nature, knowing your tendency to rile people, someone who doesn't know you isn't used to that sort of thing."

"Naruto's an exception."

Obito nods, making a low noise in agreement. "Even so, you're too old to be teasing Sasuke so much. You're almost twenty-six, aren't you? You guys aren't kids anymore."

"Does it make a difference that I tease Tamaki, as well?"

"Really, Naruto, don't let this guy get to you. Teasing you is just his way of showing how much he missed Sasuke," Obito says, chuckling. "Speaking of which, where's your other half anyway? I thought you'd be with Sasuke, but..."

"Tamaki's having a turn with him," Sai says.

"You really shouldn't twist your words to sound that way," Naruto mutters, "like Sasuke's something you can just toss around."

Both Sai and Obito raise an eyebrow, something everybody in this family seems able to do, if only because Naruto can't raise one eyebrow without the other.

Under their stares, Naruto can't stop the heat he feels colouring his cheeks. He tries to laugh it off, embarrassed that he was caught being so defensive of Sasuke in front of Sasuke's family.

"Of course he isn't," Sai says, but Obito just smiles, an amused glint to his eyes that makes Naruto's face turn even redder.

"What a funny guy."

"A funny guy indeed."

"Oh, before I forget why I came looking for you," Obito says, eyes slightly wide fixed on Naruto," Itachi was asking around for you earlier."

Naruto points to his nose. "Me?"

"Mm..." Obito gives the room a quick glance. "He's here somewhere. Knowing him, he'll probably find you first, but—oh, and I have a message for you, too, Sai. The guys in the Peacock room, they're complaining Emi's winning too much at nine-cards."

"Emi?"

"This one's high school sweetheart."

Naruto turns incredulous eyes on Sai. "You have a girlfriend?" Not that he thinks Sai shouldn't have a girlfriend, yet somehow, the idea that Sai could have that kind of relationship with anyone, much less a high school sweetheart, it's a little hard to grasp.

"That's what I said, too." Obito grins. "But they grew up together, drifted apart after high school, and then they found each other again in Gifu last year—like something straight out of a girl's man—"

"This is where I'll be taking my leave," Sai says, one hand smoothing down the right lapel of his black jacket. "Meeting you has been a very interesting experience, Naruto." His mouth curves into this barely there little smile before he offers Naruto a slight bow of his head, doing the same for Obito. "Until later, Uncle."

"Everyone sending me to deliver messages like this tonight, maa, I feel like the errand boy I'm too old to be." Closing his eyes, Obito lets out an indulgent sigh. He peeks at Naruto with one eye opened. "You don't have a message for me, too, do you?"

"Actually, um," Naruto begins, "considering we just met today, I know this sounds kind of sudden, so it's fine if you don't want to answer, but can I ask you something?"

Obito watches him with both eyes. "Shoot."

"...do you know who Shisui is?"

"Let's see. Shisui, huh?" Obito pauses with a thoughtful look on his face. "Shisui, Shisui, Shisui...I do. Why do you ask?"

"Itachi said something to me this morning, when we were on the phone." Naruto's brows furrow. "I didn't think much of it then, but being here and not running into him yet, I started wondering, because Itachi told me I reminded him of Shisui."

Quickly, Obito sobers. "He did, did he?"

Naruto nods. "It was kind of an offhand comment, though, since he didn't say how or why. When I asked Sasuke, he said the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he heard it from."

"No, Sasuke probably wouldn't. He was too young to remember who his cousin Shisui was."

"Was?"

"Was. He passed away a long time ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Naruto lowers his head for a moment. He raises it again to look at Obito with an almost frown. "But being compared to Shisui then, that's not a bad thing, right?"

"Ah, but then that would be telling, wouldn't it?" Obito smiles, broad and a little silly, bringing to the surface the kinds of wrinkles around his eyes that can only come from smiling a lot. He tilts his head a bit, a finger resting on the side of his face. Then he winks. "And an old man like me can only hope to keep the secrets he doesn't tell."

The smile's contagious enough that Naruto can't help himself when he gives one back that's just as wide. "You really don't look that old, you know."

"Trying to get me to spill my secrets, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Are you hiding from your debt, old man?" comes a low voice from behind him, and for the second time Naruto nearly starts.

Hikaku, he remembers, recognising the voice that belongs to the man Sasuke introduced him to earlier, although he'd appreciate the recognition more if he made it without Hikaku sneaking up on him, because that's something people should really take the time not to do.

Somewhere around Obito's age, or even a little older, maybe a little more serious, too, Hikaku's another one of Sasuke's uncles, a tall guy with long dark hair in a style that almost reminds Naruto of Itachi's.

He steps closer to Obito, acknowledging Naruto with a small, polite nod.

"Sage advice for your generation," Obito says, directing a finger at Naruto, "the best time to gamble is when you're old. That's why you catch so many old people in those pachinko parlours. But the real reason old people like to gamble, at this age, you have nothing left to lose. So even if you're old enough now, it's always best to wait to incur any debt."

"If your gambling was as habitual as your drinking," Hikaku says, "this family would make a collective decision to disown you."

"As an old man clinging to my youth, at this stage in life, drinking is my right."

"Yet you've managed to spend nearly half your life in bars."

"Only in the ones I own," Obito counters, draping an arm around Hikaku's shoulders, "but with no children to carry my name, take pity on this poor old widowed Obito, Hikaku."

"That ploy stopped working years ago. I have no sympathy for your kind of act."

"Be my partner for another round of nine-cards upstairs then. We can bet with your money this time."

"I already used your money to hold our place for the next hand."

Letting his arm fall from Hikaku's shoulders, Obito lets out a muted noise extremely close to sounding like a whine. "How cruel of you, Hikaku, someone with your kind of bad luck making use of my good money..."

"Money you can be conveniently meagre with around me."

Obito grins wide, not disagreeing. "Well, is there any more of the black sesame dango left? And the good kind of beer Aunt Kayou didn't want to bring out? I need something to distract me from the future losses that will further incur my debt."

"The restaurant's still open."

"Right." Adjusting his round glasses, Obito gives a firm nod. "Let's go then." Before following Hikaku, he looks back to Naruto. "You're old enough to drink and gamble, aren't you? You should come."

"Hehe, as fun as that sounds, I think I'm just going to grab something to eat and wait for Sasuke."

"If you change your mind..."

Naruto shakes his head. "Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks, though."

"You know where to find me. But if I see Sasuke, I'll make sure to send him your way, all right," Obito says, throwing from over his shoulder another one of those really friendly smiles Naruto can't help but return.

He gives a quick wave of his hand, watching Obito turn around to walk away.

There's still no sign of Sasuke yet, but the ballroom's quieted down some, with more people sitting than standing, and Naruto makes his way to the food tables. He fills two small plates and takes them to his assigned seat next to Sasuke's, on the really nice comfortable chair where his dark grey jacket hangs off the back.

On the table he sits a small plate of finger-sized portions of meat. He'll have to go back for the pork miso and the shrimp tempura udon, but this is good for now. The second plate he places down holds two thin slices of the white chocolate raspberry mousse cake, one for him and the other for Sasuke that he puts on a separate plate and covers with a cloth napkin.

It's not the wedding cake, but he already got a chance to try that earlier, when the reception first started and people around the room were standing to give toasts to the bride and groom. The real wedding cake was a four-tiered almond cake, filled with layers of lemon curd and topped with a Swiss Buttercream frosting decorated with tiny intricate red and white flowers scattered along a gold beaded trim.

Although Sasuke doesn't really eat too many sweets, Naruto shared a piece of the cake with him. Actually, he suggested they feed each other their first bites of cake, because he heard that's a tradition in Western weddings for newly married couples, but when he told Sasuke, trying to bring a forkful of cake to Sasuke's mouth, he almost got a fork in his eye for all his troubles, and then Sasuke said he'd throw the cake in Naruto's face, which, of course, he knew Sasuke wouldn't, but after scraping off most of the frosting, eventually, he did manage to get Sasuke to take a few bites on his own.

As good as that cake was, though, this braised pork is even better, and he just about moans as the tender pieces melt in his mouth, juicy and moist, maybe even good enough and worth risking his life to ask Sasuke to try a recipe for this kind of braised pork.

Ever since Naruto told his mom that Sasuke started to cook, when she gave Sasuke a copy of that one Tiradito recipe she hunted down some poor chef in a Peruvian restaurant for, Sasuke's been trying his hand at cooking more often. He's not always the best at it, or at least he's not always the best at experimenting with the non-traditional stuff, because he's really, really good with Japanese food, but whatever Sasuke makes, unwillingly or not, Naruto will end up being the guinea pig anyway, secretly thinking of the charm Kiba slipped him to protect him from food poisoning that he has hidden away in a place where Sasuke will never find it.

So far, it seems to be working.

"Naruto."

Dropping his chopsticks, Naruto almost jumps out of his skin at the deep voice, a hand flying to his chest and placed over his heart beating way too fast for his health. He turns to see Itachi taking a seat in the empty chair across from him. Taking a couple good seconds, he breathes in and breathes out, just to remind himself that he's still able to.

That's the third time today. What is it with these people and trying to scare the shit out of him?

"Somehow, I can't help but feeling this is all part of some scheme to scare me to death by the end of the night."

"Far from it." There's a faint smile on Itachi's lips as he places a wide-bowled glass of red wine in front of Naruto.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry for startling you, though. It wasn't my intention."

Picking up the offered glass, Naruto lets out a small laugh. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it," he says, taking a tentative sip of the wine. Beer's more his thing, but this isn't so bad.

He licks his lips, swallowing the slightly sweet flavour that leaves a pleasant taste in his mouth. After taking another, more generous swig, he sets the glass back on the table. "Oh—Obito said you were looking for me?"

Itachi gives a low hum, carefully twirling the flute glass in his hand. "I didn't know if you and Sasuke had already left."

"Oh. That. Really, I don't think he'd leave without telling you, but we were just outside talking for a while. I didn't know we took that long."

"Ah." Itachi gives a slight nod, bringing to his lips the glass of champagne with a relatively thick layer of carbonation nearly touching the brim. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, yeah, this place is great. Big, too. I've never been to a wedding before, so the whole thing's a little overwhelming, to be honest." Naruto brightens with a grin. "But it's exciting, too, though.

"Getting a chance to spend time with your family, meeting so many new people that are important to Sasuke, actually, I'm starting to wish I brought my baby."

"Your baby?"

Hand reaching for the back of his neck, Naruto gives a sheepish laugh at Itachi's raised eyebrow, "Not a real baby of course. Unless me and Sasuke, but that's not what I—my Nikon F6, is what I'm trying to say. My camera, I mean. Being an '04 SLR model, I know it's a little outdated, but it's the first professional camera I ever bought. Got it for a really good price used, too. I've had it since high school, so baby's just something I like to call it, I guess."

Naruto sits up a little straighter in his chair. "I have a DSLR, too, a Nikon D3X. I'm lucky enough to work at a used camera store, so I got the '10 model for a really good deal, because my boss is really nice. It's just that I still have a soft spot for my first one, you know."

"What people tend to cherish often bears the weight of a significant experience. Holding close what's precious to you, it's not unreasonable."

Naruto agrees with an absent murmur, trailing off at the familiar glimpse of dark hair he sees on the other side of the ballroom. "...it's not."

He starts to smile a little, small but gradually growing when Sasuke immediately looks in his direction, warm and assuring when he catches Sasuke's gaze he holds forever in that one moment until Itachi's voice brings the world dissolved around them back to life.

"Hmm?" Arm propped on the table, Naruto rests his head against his palm. His eyes travel to the tall woman by Sasuke's side. Mei, his mind easily reminds him, Itachi's really pretty not quite sort of on-and-off girlfriend who almost caught the bouquet thrown by Sasuke's aunt.

With a hand on Sasuke's arm, she stops him in the middle of the floor. Waist-length red hair no longer contained in a messy low side bun falls down her back and sways with her hips, covering an expensive looking blue dress that fits almost close to snug around her body.

She's attractive, he'll admit. Attractive in a subtle kind of provocative way that's so different from the persona women are typically expected to present, and maybe even alluring in the same way that initially drew him to Sasuke, because sometimes Sasuke gets this little glint in his eyes, this really sultry look promising all kinds of good things to come, and Naruto honestly can't say he doesn't endorse leaving himself at the mercy of Sasuke's more than capable hands.

Although instead of being aggressive and violently demanding (never mind how much Naruto actually likes Sasuke being rough with him), how Mei carries herself, assertive and silently commanding, with that kind of obvious confidence, she just stands out.

It's like when people first meet Tsunade and unintentionally stare at her chest. Of course, it doesn't happen all the time, but a rack that big is really hard not to notice, because it's not something people see every day. Even Sasuke admitted he almost caught himself staring at her chest when he met her, and he's the last person to do that kind of thing.

"The quiet appeal Mei has, I truly do sympathise with you, Naruto."

Blinking, Naruto turns to Itachi, lifting his head from his hand. "Huh?"

"However, as encouraging as it is not to have any reservations concerning your commitment to Sasuke," Itachi says, "I would appreciate it if you refrained from staring at Mei so intently."

"I-Itachi, I didn't—I wasn't—" Naruto struggles to piece together some sort of sentence from the words that don't just want to come. Okay, so yeah, maybe he was kind of staring at Mei, but only because he was thinking of Sasuke, so that definitely has to count for something. "It wasn't that I was trying to stare at Mei, but it's not like you come across people like her every day."

Gently setting down his glass of champagne half empty, Itachi simply looks at him.

"N-not that I was checking out your girlfriend, because I have Sasuke—we already established that, right, what you just said about me and my commitment to Sasuke—not to mention, Mei's your girlfriend, so..."

Itachi doesn't even blink.

"I did already mention how much I like Sasuke, didn't I? Because I really do. A lot. A whole lot. I even told him right before we came here, after I told you about wanting to be your brother-in-law, remember, so it's not that I meant to look like I was checking out your girlfriend in front of you. Which isn't to say she's not pretty or anything, because she really is, but I wasn't trying to give you the impression I was checking her out in front of you like someone who didn't already have Sasuke and didn't already know she was your girlfriend.

"Because I wasn't. Checking her out, that is. Really."

Itachi blinks.

"...you know," Naruto says, following a considerably substantial pause, "usually, Sasuke would have found some way to shut me up before I had a chance to get to this point."

Itachi lets out a soft laugh, light and almost familiar but nothing like Sasuke's. "You don't have to censor yourself for my sake."

"Oh. Okay." Naruto heaves a sigh in relief, letting his body sag a little, but the tension quickly returning to his shoulders snaps them right back up. "Wait—wait, this isn't some kind of trick to get me to let my guard down, is it?"

"Not unless you want to believe it is."

"I'm really trying not to," Naruto says, wry, giving Itachi a somewhat wary glance from the corner of his eye.

Although he knows Itachi likes him, Itachi still has this deceptively nice personality that's a real testament to his outwardly calm nature. He can be a pretty intimidating guy at times, if only because Naruto also knows how much Itachi means to Sasuke, who, compared to his brother, is an open book Naruto's read over and over again.

With the barest hint of a smile, Itachi picks up his glass and takes a small sip of champagne. "You're fine, Naruto."

"Now I just feel like you're making fun of me." Naruto grins at Itachi's tiny little smile, glancing at Sasuke and Mei near the stage.

"Maybe a little," Itachi admits, setting his glass on the table again.

"Heh, as long as you aren't..."

"As long as I'm not what?"

Eyes growing wide, Naruto squawks, gaping at Sasuke and Mei. "Did she just—"

...

"—kiss me like that?" Sasuke says, rubbing the heel of his palm against his cheek and gifting Mei with a half-hearted glare. "I'm not some little kid."

"And yet I couldn't help myself. You're adorable."

"I've been an adult since you've known me. I'm not adorable."

"Unfortunately for you, those cheeks say otherwise."

"Mei..."

"Come on. Dance with me, Sasuke."

"Why?"

"I want to be able to fully appreciate your aunt's taste in music." Pale lipstick is stained on full lips drawn into a secretive smile, and Mei reaches with her right hand to hold Sasuke's left, easily resting her free arm around Sasuke's shoulders. She's already considerably taller than average, but dark sharp heels give her a few centimetres over Sasuke, putting her somewhere closer to Itachi's height. "Appease me."

"Make Itachi appease you."

"Your brother refuses to dance with me." Mei leans a little closer to leave a conspiratorial whisper in his ear. "Let's make him jealous."

As she pulls back, Sasuke snorts, but an obliging hand finds its way at her waist, leaving a comfortable distance between the two of them. "You know he won't fall for that."

"Of course. He's too sensible for that kind of thing. I wouldn't tolerate him if he wasn't." Thin metallic jewellery dangles and swings from her ears as Mei follows Sasuke's movements. "Although it's still fun to tease you, no?"

Sasuke sighs. "And this is why you were in such a hurry to bring me here, to dance in front of Itachi?"

"To some extent, I suppose, but I'm more interested in listening to your aunt sing." Mei glances towards the stage, where a woman from the small band begins to play a soft melody on the white grand piano. "I heard she has an amazing voice for enka."

Without bias, Sasuke can say his aunt sings well. He doesn't particularly care for her preferred genre of music, aside from that Otowa Shinobu album he received for his tenth birthday, but he doesn't dislike it, either. Enka's the kind of music he grew up listening to whenever his dad took him to visit his grandmotherduring the winter, the kind of music he'd hum all the words to while lying beside his grandmother on the tatami floor, the kind of music an echo scratchy from her old record player nearly as quiet as the sounds of wide brushstrokes guided by a small hand trying to emulate the vast mountains high above the shrine near his grandmother's house.

"Do you know if she'll sing tonight?" Mei says. "Itachi told me she didn't sing at her last wedding. Which one was that—her fifth one?"

"Maybe," Sasuke says. "I think she sang at the wedding before that, but this is her eighth one."

Mei releases a soft hum. "There's a rumour circulating that her talking cats are ultimately what drove off her last three husbands."

"Her cats don't talk." Sasuke almost frowns but then thinks better of entertaining that rumour surprisingly still going around.

He believed it once, when he was five and he and Tamaki would take turns trying to get Aunt Kayou's old cats to tell them all the secrets of the world, including why Tamaki's grandfather always seemed to smell like fermented cabbage. Of course, they were at that gullible age Sai was more than happy to take advantage of, although after a while of waiting for the cats to respond, they eventually did grow bored and realise the cats weren't able to talk, no matter how much Aunt Kayou liked to talk to them.

"Cats don't talk."

"Not according to what I heard," Mei says. "How many does she actually have?"

Truthfully, Sasuke's lost count over the years, yet his aunt's house is large enough to accommodate more than she probably needs. "Too many. She's almost seventy. I don't know how she keeps up with them all."

"That's what a husband is for."

"If that's what you want to believe."

"Wanting to make someone you love happy, no matter how uncertain the task, I'd still like to believe in it." After a pregnant pause, with poorly concealed enthusiasm bright in her eyes, Mei says, "Now tell me about Naruto."

Sasuke almost makes a face. "That's why you wanted me to dance with you."

"After you introduced him as a very close friend, you two left before I had an opportunity to speak to him. Itachi claimed it wasn't his place to say anything, but it wasn't too difficult to figure out. Everyone I ran into couldn't stop talking about the elusive blond man you brought home. Especially the ladies. As of now, we're all in agreement that Naruto's best feature is his very handsome smile. He's quite the catch."

"Putting so much emphasis into that kind of thing," Sasuke says, glad Naruto's not here to hear this, because for all the damage it could inflict, someone with Naruto's inflated ego really doesn't need to hear this, "tch, no one's able to keep their mouth shut in this family."

"Oh?" Mei's eyes flutter in surprise. "And I'm family now?"

"You may as well be. You're just as bad as everyone else."

"Well, in that case," Mei says, "I think I'd like to propose to your brother sometime soon."

Eyes large, Sasuke coughs, nearly chokes when the air in his throat goes down the wrong way. "Y-you're really going to..."

"Yes."

"...this isn't you asking me for approval, is it?"

"No," she says, the word pleasant and airy accompanied by a gentle squeeze of Sasuke's shoulder she removes her arm from as they come to a stop. "I simply felt this was something I wanted you to know."

"I don't..."

Mei gives a small shake of her head. "Because you're important to Itachi, that means you're important to me, too."

Slow, Sasuke nods when she releases his left hand, letting his right hand fall away from her hip.

"Let's keep it a secret between us, though, shall we?" Smiling, Mei gives him a light tap on the tip of his nose. "If he accepts, I need you to pretend to be surprised when we make the announcement."

Sasuke gives her another half-hearted glare. "Making that kind of serious confession to me and then treating me like some kid, what's the point in that?"

"You're adorable when you sulk."

"Mei..."

"You still haven't told me about Naruto."

"He's Naruto." Lower lip tucked beneath his teeth, Sasuke glances at the stage behind them. "What more is there to say?"

"Rumour has it there's much more than you're willing to tell."

Sasuke groans.

...

"...I thought this was supposed to be a family type gathering," Naruto mumbles.

"It is."

Really, it was just a kiss on the cheek, which didn't upset him as much as it took him by surprise, which then led to the clumsy kind of impulsive reaction he hardly ever means that Sasuke's been steadily trying to break him out of the habit of doing, but Naruto still makes a point to ignore Itachi's seemingly endless gaze.

Or at least he tries to.

He braves a glance away from his unfinished plate of food.

Itachi's still staring.

After taking a small sip of wine, carefully setting the glass on the table, Naruto clears his throat.

Slowly, Itachi starts to smile, bearing a sly sort of misleading smile giving him this too highly amused look that almost makes Naruto want to squirm on the edge of his seat for something he's not entirely sure he actually did.

"Without a doubt," he says, a hand in one fluid motion pushing back stray hair falling over the side of the face, "you are the most innately droll person I've ever had the opportunity to meet."

"Funny." Snorting, Naruto reaches for the last piece of braised pork on his plate. He swallows it in one bite. "Not that I won't take that as a compliment, but Obito and Sai mentioned something along those lines, too."

"Meeting Sai, I'm sure it must have been an enlightening experience."

"Eh, I can't say I was prepared for it. Coming here, I really didn't know what to expect. Sai, though, he...well, at first, I kind of got the feeling he didn't like me," Naruto says, tries to hide his reluctance of the admission behind a hesitant smile. "He's not an easy guy to read, especially since he doesn't mind being so blunt, but Sasuke and Obito already told me not to take what he says seriously."

He lets out a low chuckle. "Not that I was anyway, but I really am trying to make a good impression, you know. Doing that kind of thing, it's important to me."

"I do believe Sai can be particular in how he chooses to express himself."

Naruto scrunches his nose. "That's definitely one way of putting it."

There's a small movement at the corner of Itachi's mouth that almost turns into another smile. "However, I also believe it takes an incredible amount of resilience not to like you, Naruto."

"Really? You think so?" Naruto all but preens. "When I first started trying to be Sasuke's friend, he once said knowing me was like a war of attrition, because it took less energy to be my friend compared to all the times he tried to ignore me."

Of course, Sasuke later said it was an annoying character trait Naruto shouldn't be so pleased about having, but since his persistence got him where he is with Sasuke now, he thinks it all panned out pretty well.

"I'll confess," Itachi says, finishing the rest of his champagne, "someone with your infectious personality, I wouldn't expect to find you sitting here alone."

"Ah..." Naruto looks up, a finger scratching the side of his face below his chin. "For this sort of thing at least, I don't mind taking a backseat. I'm a simple kind of guy, so if it means I get to see Sasuke happy, I'll be fine."

"Abiding by such a staunch mindset, it seems very selfless of you."

"I'd like to think so, but really, the only reason I don't mind is because seeing Sasuke happy makes me happy. Like I said, though, I'm a simple kind of guy." Naruto shrugs. "Being in Yamaguchi, it's the first time he's come back here to see his family in a long time. You already know how important this is to him. I do, too. And this sort of formal occasion really isn't my kind of thing.

"Besides, I plan on spending the rest of my life with him. I don't want to do anything that'll make me lose Sasuke. Not if I can help it."

"That's a bold assertion."

"Which one? Wanting to be with Sasuke or not wanting to be without Sasuke?"

"Seeing there is a difference, since you've already made the distinction, I won't entertain a question you know the answer to."

Naruto licks his lips, picking up his glass of wine still half full. Staring at the red liquid swishing inside, he raises the glass a little higher, bringing the rim closer to his mouth, but then he places the glass back down on the table.

"It's kind of scary, you know," he says, "when I realise how strongly I really do feel about Sasuke, about this guy I still think of as my best friend, who's become so much more than that, but I know he feels the same way, too, so even if it still seems sudden to make that sort of declaration, our relationship, it's not something I'm going to let go of.

"I already promised Sasuke." His mouth teeters on the edge of a straight line, eyes a fixed stare set on Itachi. "And I never go back on my word."

"...as fickle as the future can be, you've never considered the possibility of having second thoughts?"

"You're kidding, right?" Both eyebrows raised, Naruto settles on giving him this exceedingly dry look that just might be inadvertently questioning Itachi's sanity. "You know how hard I had to work to even get Sasuke's attention? Not to mention, even being close to him then, how long it took for him to see me as more than a friend? And trust me. It wasn't for lack of trying, either."

Around a small smile, Itachi makes this soft noncommittal noise.

"Sasuke's always liked you. You're his brother. I don't think he'll ever stop liking you. But me..." Frown lines mar Naruto's face, and he looks down, fiddling with the thick white fabric covering the table. "After all this time, though, he'd have to be the one to get rid of me first, and even if he tried, well—"

Lifting his head, Naruto cracks a wide grin that almost might have been enough to catch Itachi off guard. "Just know I'd be coming to you, so expect a call if that ever happens, okay."

"I'd prefer not to receive a call from either of you."

"Good." Naruto continues to grin. "Hearing that kind of thing from you, being able to talk to you like this, I really do consider you to be family, so one day, I hope you'll consider me to be family, too, and maybe I can introduce you to mine—your family's already so big, though.

"When Sasuke said a lot of people were going to be here, I wouldn't have thought there'd be this many. I guess because your family is so old? He told me you could trace the Uchiha name all the way back to the Tokugawa period. I thought my mom's family name was old, but the records for Uzumaki don't even go past the Meiji era, so it's kind of amazing to know your ancestors could have been ninja or something."

"Our records aren't so extensive, either, but I'd hesitate to say our family came from anything other than simple merchants and artists."

"Still, who's to say it couldn't have happened? Being a part of that kind of history..." Folding his arms behind his neck, Naruto lets out a wistful sigh, leaning back into his chair. "My family's pretty small compared to yours."

Itachi nods with a low hum.

"Not that I mind. My mom and dad used to travel out of the country a lot, until I was about three or four, so I mostly grew up with my aunt and uncle. It was just the five of us for a while, until I was nine and then we adopted my sisters.

"Being a big brother, I think I probably spoil them too much, but they're my little sisters, you know, so I'm okay with that. If only they didn't like Sasuke so much, though." Dropping his arms to rest on the table, Naruto leans forward with a grin. "Putting so much attention on him, I don't know if that should make me happy or jealous."

"Sasuke's met your family?"

"Yeah, I took him there sometime in January, during the break. I'm from Mobara, so that's not too far from Narita. It really was a spur of the moment thing, but I think he ended up getting along with my family too well. Especially with my mom.

"How they keep in touch, I already told him it's weird—not that he actually listens to me. Not that anyone listens to me. Definitely not Sakura and—_oh_." Sitting up, Naruto lets eager fingers fumble to dig out the phone in the side pocket of his pants. He falters for a moment, noticing his missing wallet, but then he remembers Sasuke has it.

"Here. Let me show you." His thumb turns on the dark screen that brightens to reveal the wallpaper a photo of Sakura and Ino taken in front of the cherry blossoms at Tokiwa Park. They're standing next to each other, cheek to cheek, wearing identical, wide smiles and pointing v signs at the camera. "These are my sisters."

He places his phone on the table so Itachi can get a better look. "That's Sakura's on the left. She just turned thirteen last month. Ino, though, she won't be thirteen until November," he says, looking up to Itachi with a grin. "They're really cute, aren't they?"

"They are. Their smiles even share a likeness with you."

Fighting a blush, Naruto laughs a little, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "...thanks. They really like getting their picture taken, so I have a lot of photos of them, but my wallpaper's one of my favourites."

"Sasuke never did enjoy being in front of the camera."

Naruto snorts. "He still doesn't. Considering how much I like photography, I'm lucky I even managed to get what I have. Did he ever let you take any?"

"The photos I took before leaving for New York, I may still have a few of those on my phone."

"Can I see?"

"Of course."

Reaching inside of his jacket, Itachi takes out a sleek, extremely thin white phone. It's the newest Docomo model that just came out a few days ago and way more than Naruto can afford on his skimpy personal budget not spent on school related expenses or bills or food, or any of the important kinds of things he needs in order to survive.

It's still a really nice phone, though, only a little smaller than Naruto's hand. Itachi brings it out of sleep mode and unlocks the touchscreen display. He opens a simple file manager type app, falling into a series of quick sweeps with his finger over the screen.

The movement's too fast for Naruto to keep up with, nothing but a haze of various characters labelling the multiple folder icons passing on the screen.

At least until Itachi opens an image file that's decidedly not a photo of Sasuke.

Which Naruto takes it upon himself to helpfully point out. Just in case Itachi couldn't tell the difference between his brother and those hostile looking projectiles sitting in a large display case. For whatever reason. "...that's not Sasuke."

"My apologies. I must have opened the wrong folder. This is a photo from my sword collection."

Picking up his jaw from the floor then letting it drop again, Naruto just stares at Itachi. Really, he just stares. Skewed sense of humour, his ass. He doesn't care what Sasuke said earlier. There's no excuse or good willed intent not even remotely sinister to justify showing that kind of thing. Who even walks around carrying that kind of menacing photo on their phone at all?

"...just how many of those ridiculously sharp and pointy looking things do you actually have?" he says, cautiously, because he doesn't exactly appreciate the panoramic view showing a too large array of unsheathed swords.

It's not the most comforting image to be shown by Sasuke's older brother, especially since most of the time Naruto can't tell when Itachi's being serious or not.

If Sasuke was wrong about Itachi's sense of humour, maybe Itachi really wasn't joking about the whole treating him to fugu thing after all.

"Not as many as I'd like. I'm partial to antiquities, but most of them are difficult finds. Discovering these particular swords has been a gradual effort over the years."

Wisely, Naruto doesn't bring up the fact that the swords in the photo actually look brand new. Recently polished, too. More functional than decorative even.

Sure, he knows Itachi was the one who inspired Sasuke to take up kendo on the side, that Itachi was the one who gave Sasuke his shinai, that Itachi also retired from the international circuit during college as a ninth-dan, the highest grade given that pretty much doesn't exist anymore, but he never thought breaking Sasuke's shinai that day would come back to haunt him like this.

"You really do like your swords, don't you?"

"It's a hobby to pass the time. Nothing noteworthy," Itachi says, although Naruto silently disagrees, "but I suppose it's enough to store them in a separate room. If you ever feel inclined, you're more than welcome to take a look."

"Visit your condo? Maybe if Sasuke comes with me, too, but until then I, um...yeah, I think I'll be okay. I get homesick too easily." Naruto's trying exceptionally hard not to let his admittedly overactive imagination run away with him, except it already is, and now he's starting to get all kinds of images in his mind he'd much rather do without.

Being Itachi's brother, it really is no wonder where Sasuke got his sadistic streak from.

Looking back at the phone Itachi placed on the table, Naruto actually takes a moment to appreciate the pixel quality of the photo and just how clearly he can see the gleam of the swords' blades. A hand makes a slight gesture pointing towards the phone. "Do you mind if I..."

"Help yourself," Itachi says, picking up the phone and handing it to Naruto. "It may not be a camera, but there's been a notable improvement in the mobile phone market recently."

"It's impressive enough," Naruto admits, "for the capability of a phone at least, but it could never compare to my baby. These new phones still can't replace the real thing. With such small lenses, there's still a big technical limit to what you can do with them, especially in different settings, which really does lower their performance depth, because there's not a lot of room to offer quality control.

"So no matter how many times a camera phone improves, it's still just a phone." His finger and thumb close together touch the screen then quickly span apart to zoom in on the display.

"It is," Itachi says. "However, I wouldn't have taken you for such a purist."

"Growing up watching my dad work, learning from him, I don't think that way of thinking can be helped," Naruto says, giving the phone back to Itachi, "so maybe I am a little of a purist, but that doesn't mean I don't take pictures with my phone, though. And it doesn't mean your phone makes your swords look any less sharp, either. Pointy, too."

"I've been told they appear sharper in person."

That Itachi can say something like that so calmly, almost forebodingly, with such a soft and gentle looking smile, really, how's Naruto supposed to even respond to something like that?

Settling on busying his mouth with a piece of chicken, he loops his finger around the broad end of his tie then bunches the soft material in his hand, giving Itachi another wary look that turns a little wry.

When he realises what he was just doing, though, he immediately straightens in his chair.

He groans, trying to smooth down his tie with his palm in the hopes he can make himself look presentable again. "Sasuke's going to kill me," he mutters. "I wasn't even paying attention to what I was doing—my tie doesn't look wrinkled, does it?"

"No, but your knot is loose."

"Agh." Naruto lifts the flaps of his collar. "And Sasuke took his time trying to make it look so nice, too. Not that I don't know how to tie my own tie. He just assumed I couldn't and didn't give me a chance to say I could. Plus, I like it when he does it instead, because I only know how to do a really basic tie, and he can do these—"

Moving the knot up to his collar, he pauses. "You won't tell him what I just told you, will you?"

Itachi chuckles. "Not unless he asks."

"Thanks." Naruto sighs in relief. "I'm just glad I didn't mess it up, since Sasuke bought it for me." Looking down at his chest, he gives the dark grey tie a proud pat with his hand. "It's made from real silk, too."

Gaze warm, Itachi laughs again, this time a little softer, a little more relaxed with another one of those really gentle smiles. "...thank you, Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto looks up. "For what?"

Itachi makes a low noise and shakes his head.

Before Naruto can ask him what he means, however, he's distracted by Sasuke and Mei taking the seats on either side of him.

"You certainly do have a boyish quality about you. Not only does it enhance your smile, it's rather endearing. Charming, too," Mei says. "Such a gorgeous blue, though, has anyone ever told you how striking your eyes are, Naruto?"

"Maybe, but, um..." Naruto blinks. "...thank you?"

"Would you like to dance with me?" she says, leaning a little too close for Naruto's comfort.

At Naruto's pleading look, Itachi sits back in his chair, crossing his arms and raising an ankle to rest over his knee. "I'm not the most competent dancer," he says, like that's really supposed to explain why his girlfriend seems so set on dancing with Naruto.

Still facing Naruto, Mei glances at Itachi from the corner of her eye. "My Itachi actually admitting he has a fault?"

Itachi gives her an amused look, probably part of some kind of inner joke Naruto really doesn't want to know about. "I'm not without one or two."

Momentarily forgetting his discomfort, Naruto turns to see Sasuke reaching over to swipe the last piece of chicken from his plate. "Hey, that's—"

"Do you think you'll be able to help me make Itachi jealous?"

More than a little alarmed, Naruto flushes under the intensity of Mei's stare, lumbering for a response like some kid who just got hit by puberty. "O-oi, Sasuke—Sasuke, I know you're seeing this. You have to be seeing this, right? She made a move on me first."

Unfazed, Sasuke continues to chew on the piece of chicken formerly belonging to Naruto, continues to be indifferent to Naruto's obvious pain and suffering.

"Appearing so at ease in this kind of situation, it isn't normal," Naruto mumbles, looking to Itachi, since Sasuke won't even bother to take pity on him. "Shouldn't you be a little more concerned about your girlfriend flirting so openly with another guy?"

"Are you implying you're a reason to be?"

Naruto squeaks. "That's not what I mea—"

"You should go, you know," Sasuke says, choosing now of all times to be a vindictive bastard and throw Naruto's words back at him, like he actually wants to give Naruto a death wish, because Itachi's not staring at him with one of those really gentle smiles anymore.

No, Itachi's just staring at him, wearing one of those really unreadable expressions that has _everything_ on Sasuke, and Naruto swears he sees Itachi discreetly tapping twice the outside of his jacket right over the inner pocket holding his phone, under the pretence of brushing off a piece of lint that's definitely not there.

It can't just be his imagination this time.

"Hold me, Sasuke."

"Don't worry," Mei says, "I'll hold you, Naruto."

With another squeak, Naruto shakes his head, inching a little further away from her, as much as he can on the chair. "No, no, I want Sasuke to hold me. Sasuke, I want you to hold me. I want to be held in the relatively safe comfort of your arms."

Sasuke snorts. "You big baby," he says, but smiles this tiny little fond smile that makes Naruto grin, because he knows it's the kind of tiny smile that Sasuke saves only for him. "You can't handle a little teasing?"

Vague, in the back on his mind, Naruto registers Mei quietly pulling away. She stands and brings Itachi to his feet, leading him to the middle of the ballroom where they slip away from Naruto's sight.

Arms falling over his lap, he leans closer to Sasuke, but he doesn't close in on the modest distance between them. "I like it when you tease me. Does that count for anything?"

"Looking at me again with that incredibly stupid smile," Sasuke murmurs. He turns his head to the side then brings his gaze back to Naruto. "You really are such an idiot."

"Am I?"

"...you are."

"Well, that's okay then," Naruto whispers, slowly reaching for Sasuke's hand he with fingers Sasuke gives a firm squeeze.

"It is?"

"Yeah, because I don't mind being an idiot for you."


	18. Morning in Your Eyes

_Pre-slash, with enough ust, this one takes place after Stuck on You (ch. 6)/Stand by Me (ch.15) and maybe a couple of months before Notion of You (ch. 4)._

_I just really like this idea of them seamlessly falling into this comfortable relationship (an unintentional excuse for cuddling maybe), but here, whereas Sasuke's finally figured out that Naruto may like him, Naruto's still too nervous about his own feelings to realise that Sasuke's an unrepentant flirt who likes to make him squirm._

_Also, for anyone interested, on my profile is a link to Naruto's Doraemon clock. idk, it somehow became very important to me. And the mention of PreCure 5, because the Japanese voice actor for Naruto was the voice actor for Rin. /useless information_

_For anon replies, as late as these are, I'm sorry. I didn't have another way to reply sooner, but for any questions or what not, I'm not as flaky with hotmail or livejournal (same handle)._

_**Ttrace:** Thanks for reading. ^^;; Ah, I was on the fence about the rating because of ch. 16, which really isn't that bad, but I just didn't change it back._

_**Elina:** tbh, although I'm in the same boat as you, I don't think there's such a thing as a good or bad reviewer, but thank you for taking the time to review all the same. I'm very flattered. ^^;; I'm really glad you were able to enjoy this series and that the characters were believable for you in this AU, especially since overall it's such a silly and uneventful thing. Also, yay for a fellow k-pop fan._

_About the long sentences, though, well, being a repeat offender, lol, I'll just say, most likely, it has little to do with English not being your first language; I really need to work on not making my sentences so long._

_**Chiidorii:** My Sasuke's so weird sometimes, so I'm glad you especially did like him, but oh, wow, thank you. ^^;;_

_No, I don't mind questions at all. This whole thing's so roundabout and loosely connected that I drop details as I go along. In most of the stories so far, they're around 17-22, because they're still in school. They met on the first day of classes, eventually became friends, and, then gradually, after a few months of skirting around the issue, officially started a relationship they already had._

_I'm not sure if that's enough time to for them seem so comfortable with each other, but I do think they're both pretty emotionally intense characters and there was something that just clicked between them, which, I guess, is why I see them as being really close friends here._

_Oh, no need to apologise. Your English is completely fine, definitely less questionable than my English, and supposedly that's my first language, lol._

_**spiral-chan:** Yeah, I know I've been kind of mia, too, lately, but I hope everything's okay on your side. I'll try to write something really silly to cheer you up. (／~ ~)／_

...

_"Sitting on me doesn't do any favours for whatever's decaying in your mouth."_

...

**Morning in Your Eyes**

Against the background of a steady drone from the TV, gradually, Sasuke's vision blurry begins to clear. His eyelids heavy begin to droop once more, but then he blinks, assaulted by the sight of blue eyes almost too bright accompanied by a disarming smile nearly blinding.

Turning away from the sun slowly slipping through the window, he lets his head fall back on Naruto's shoulder, closing his eyes and muffling a groan.

He really does need to stop waking up like this.

"Yeah, I can't believe you slept in, either," Naruto says, with a chuckle a low rumble in his chest turning into a tingle taking its time to travel along Sasuke's spine. "But it's not a big deal. It's Sunday."

Head still resting on Naruto's shoulder, Sasuke peers at the low square table to Naruto's right, glancing over the two half-eaten bowls of rice porridge, one sinking a partially submerged pickled radish disappearing beneath too many sesame seeds and the other discoloured from traces of leftover pork picked out of a two-day old takeout box Naruto found in the fridge.

The rice porridge was actually the product of the burnt rice Naruto somehow achieved via the use of Shikamaru's rice cooker. Not wanting to waste the rice, he brought it when he came over last night. _I tried to make study food_, he said, with the most obnoxiously insistent grin that just made Sasuke want to throw the burnt mess in his face.

Instead, miraculously, Sasuke managed to find a way to salvage the rice to scrape together a dinner that, for once, didn't solely consist of takeout. The actual edibility of said rice was a silent question he decided was better left unanswered, although Naruto did help himself to finishing the rest of the pot on his own.

Past the two bowls, however, to the left of Naruto's glasses laid partially folded, a light blue alarm clock catches Sasuke's attention. He grunts, tucking his right leg against his chest when he reads the time.

9:15.

Licking his lips, he swallows, trying to get rid of the dry taste in his mouth. "When did I..." he croaks, the sound of his voice making him frown at the round clock with the face depicting a sleeping Doraemon lying on his side.

It's not his. The clock belongs to Naruto, because the kid he not so secretly still is wouldn't outgrow a character like Doraemon. In whatever strange way—endearing, maybe, Sasuke wants to think—it suits him, though.

He left it here once and never bothered to take it back, so the clock usually sits undisturbed near the edge of the table. Impervious to the occasional teasing from Suigetsu, there it usually stays until it's placed wherever Naruto wants to move it whenever he decided to invite himself over for the night.

The clock's simply yet another one of the many things Naruto just so happened to leave at Sasuke's place. Like the blue and yellow toothbrush replacing the red one Naruto threw away last week, or the accumulation of clothes taking up space in Sasuke's closet already challenged for space. There're enough clothes to constitute a full load of laundry if Sasuke ever took the time to separate his clothes from Naruto's before doing his Saturday morning laundry runs dragging his highly uncooperative hamper six flights of stairs down to the basement floor. And this is excluding the mounting pile of Naruto's unmatched socks that pair with the ones amassed in their own little corner by the window in Naruto's apartment.

Those off-hand remarks Shikamaru would make about how much time he and Naruto tended to spend with each other, Sasuke hadn't put much credence into them before, but with continuously missing art supplies he already knows where to find in the various areas not Shikamaru's Naruto designated his, scattered in places beyond the blue storage cube sat next to the grey beanbag chair by Naruto's desk, retrospect makes it easier to see how they've managed to perfect the uncanny ability to live together while living apart.

Shifting on Suigetsu's extra futon he borrows too often, Naruto pulls on the plush comforter shared between them, letting it fall to his lap.

"You didn't even make it ten minutes into the second part," he says, grinning through a wide yawn as he straightens his back against the wall. "To tell the truth, though, I think I fell asleep when they started talking about the Yellow River. But I didn't want to move you, so..."

Sasuke makes a low noise in acknowledgement, closing his eyes. Beneath the comforter pulled up to his chin, he brings his other leg against his chest, laying one arm over his knees. His left arm hangs loosely at his side, and he reaches for the ankle of his right foot lying on top of the left.

He doesn't remember dozing off, doesn't recall much after the segment on the Terracotta Army, but he'll fault the music for lulling him to sleep. Not that he needs an excuse to fall asleep on Naruto. Much like Naruto only needs a whim to come over unannounced, nonchalant with a simple shrug and an even simpler _I wanted to see you_, but last night they were supposed to start watching that NHK documentary on the Silk Road.

He swiped a copy from his advisor Friday, ignoring Kakashi's cheerful claim that the defunct laser disc version offered better picture quality and carefully removing the DVD box laid precariously on the top shelf of the leaning tower of books he refuses to acknowledge—that safety hazard of a bookshelf's supposedly been on the verge of falling for years, and it's a wonder anyone hasn't found themselves buried beneath the collection of porn Kakashi belies as literature.

But the documentary is required viewing for their history class. In lieu of a conventional exam, Kakashi assigned a research project, a paper no less than fifty pages. It's due before the second week in March, when final exams are administered, which gives them a little under a month to delve into a topic of choice underlining the transmission of art along the Silk Road and the significance behind the scope of various cultural influences.

However, although history is one of Sasuke's favourite subjects, if anything, given how surprisingly shrewd and meticulous Kakashi could be, there's probably some hidden agenda behind the seemingly straightforward assignment.

He long ago deemed Kakashi a lazy professor who liked to flaunt his unapologetic indolence with a personal philosophy of teaching his students how to teach themselves, a method that, of course, extended to his advising capabilities, or rather lack thereof, essentially promoting the idea of allowing Sasuke to advise himself.

How Kakashi was ever approved to serve his current ten year tenure, Sasuke still doesn't know.

Yet, for all his apparent quirks, Kakashi's more than competent. He's highly proficient in art history and well known in the archaeology field. Unorthodox teaching methods aside, he's good at what he does—or doesn't do—and Sasuke does respect the fact Kakashi strives to challenge rather than coddle his students.

"...bending yourself into that kind of position," Naruto says, "it doesn't look comfortable." There's a substantial pause. "At all."

Sasuke relaxes, leaning more heavily against Naruto. "I don't do this for your comfort."

"Still, I mean, as much as you sit like that, don't you get sore when you stay curled up for so long? I know I would."

"You're not as flexible as I am."

"...right." Naruto clears his throat. "I remember you telling me that you were, uh—that you were really...um, bendy."

"Mm-hmm."

Again, Naruto feigns a cough. "Well, as comfortable as this obviously is for you, I kind of can't feel my left side anymore." He gives Sasuke's arm a soft nudge but doesn't push him off. "You know," he says, "if that happens to mean anything to you."

"It means you have two choices."

"You're actually giving me a choice this time?"

"Die so I can go back to sleep."

"Seriously? That's one of my choices."

"Or stop talking so I can go back to sleep. Pick one so I can go back to sleep."

Naruto doesn't hold back a snort. "You can be such an ass when you're cranky, you know. Like that time you almost took my eye out with your pinkie."

"Stop exaggerating."

"That's the thing. I'm not exaggerating. I honestly thought I was going to have to start walking around wearing an eyepatch. And all because you got cranky when I woke you up and said you were drooling on me."

"...I don't drool."

"Of course. You're above doing that sort of thing."

"And I'm not cranky," Sasuke mumbles into Naruto's shirt, "I just don't appreciate your face being the first thing I see when I wake up."

"Way too late for that, don't you think?"

Sasuke groans, fingers unfurling from around the soft material of the comforter gathered in his hand.

"Really, though, it's almost ten. And the side you've been sleeping on is getting kind of numb. I mean, I know you're leaning against me, because I can see you leaning against me, but I don't think I have the ability to actually feel you leaning against me anymore."

"...talking, Naruto, why are you still doing it?"

"See," Naruto whispers, with his breath warm tickling the shell of Sasuke's ear, "if I tried to pull something like this with you, I bet you wouldn't be so accommodating."

Lifting his head, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder for leverage, slowly, Sasuke begins to sit up. The comforter falls to pool over his lap as he crosses his legs. Covering a yawn with the side of his arm, he drags his fingers through mussed hair, what Naruto sometimes likes to refer to as a special Sasuke version of Uzumaki style bed head.

"You're right," he says. "I wouldn't."

An errant finger reaches to poke his forehead, but Sasuke intercepts it with a flick of his wrist. "Don't do that."

Naruto just smiles, though, gives him this exceedingly silly kind of boyish smile so incredibly stupid if only because rarely does it fail to leave behind too many increasingly impossible to undo knots in Sasuke's stomach.

"The concept of personal space," Sasuke says, a short puff of air blowing the hair away from his face as he releases Naruto's wrist, "do you not think it applies to you?"

"Says the guy who treats me like a surrogate bed." Naruto lets out a light scoff. "Isn't that—" Pursing his lips, he snaps his fingers three times. "That word I'm looking for, what do you call it?"

"A double standard."

"Yeah, yeah. That. Being close to me, but not letting me be close to you, isn't that a double standard?"

"I never said it wasn't."

"Okay, so, um..." Chewing on his bottom lip, Naruto inches closer, further diminishing the lack of distance between them. "In this case then, wouldn't it make more sense that personal space shouldn't apply, since you're the one who fell asleep on me first?"

No, Sasuke begins to say, but he draws his head back and scrunches his nose instead. "Your breath smells."

The words don't make Naruto falter like Sasuke almost expects him to, don't turn the smile Naruto's already wearing too freely into anything other than a devious grin reinforced by the questionable gleam in his eyes. Scooting forward, without warning, he opens his mouth wide to breathe on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke sways back, raising an arm in a futile attempt to shield himself from Naruto looming closer and closer still, squishing Naruto's nose beneath his hand half-heartedly trying to push him away. "Naruto, you idiot, don't—"

Eyes large, he feels himself falling, caught in a tangle of limbs between the sheets and comforter of the futon. He lands on his back with a soft thump, grunting at the weight shuffling on top of him.

Crossing his arms, Naruto sits back and admires his handiwork, looking all too pleased. "Still think my breath stinks?"

"Sitting on me doesn't do any favours for whatever's decaying in your mouth."

Naruto laughs, obnoxious and loud, but somehow the sound is as soothing as it's become familiar. Uncrossing his arms, he lowers his hand, knuckles making a gentle brush across Sasuke's cheek. "Like yours is any better."

"My breath isn't foul."

"Mine isn't, either," Naruto says, but the certainty in his voice begins to waver as he frowns, eyebrows furrowed in the wake of a thoughtful silence. "...is it?"

Not bothering to wait for an answer, he brings a hand close to his mouth and breathes against his palm. After a pause, he does it again. There's an earnest consideration visible on his face as he tries to gauge his breath for a third time.

Naruto doesn't have bad breath per se. Despite the leftover pork curry he practically inhaled last night, his breath is no worse than the usual morning breath that's to be expected. Although being on the receiving end of Naruto's morning breath usually doesn't involve Naruto straddling him and all but sitting on the almost erection Sasuke could do without.

Giving Sasuke's shoulder a light shove, Naruto sucks his teeth. "You're such a jerk, you know that."

Sasuke returns the peeved look with an unimpressed one of his own.

"I can't believe you—I almost did believe you. Saying something died in my mouth when you _know_ my breath doesn't smell that bad."

"...get off me," is the surprisingly gruff sound of Sasuke's voice, unsurprisingly ignored, because Naruto really does have no concept of personal space, considering how often he takes it upon himself to invade Sasuke's ever-shrinking bubble he blatantly disregards.

Then again, these days, it's not something he can say he minds anymore.

So for now he just closes his eyes. Head turned to the side, he sighs, draping an arm over his forehead. The fingers from his other hand begin to tap on the tatami mat floor, following the upbeat melody to one of those annoyingly catchy Glico commercials.

He continues to lie there, lets his hand still, undecided if he wants to move just yet.

As routine as waking up beside each other has become, despite how frequently he accuses Naruto of being slow whenever it came to the art of subtlety, he honestly wouldn't have thought Naruto could be so obtuse.

With the ease of the unusual closeness they share, lack of people skills Naruto claims he has aside, if Sasuke noticed the gradual change in their relationship, then there's no reason to suspect something hasn't registered with Naruto by now.

He realises he likes Naruto. He can't quite pinpoint when or how it happened, but on a subconscious level, whatever sensibilities such an admission probably doesn't entail, he's liked Naruto for a while.

Likes him for all the things he is, possibly more so for all the things he isn't.

Enough so to act recklessly on a stupid compulsion that led him to convince Naruto it'd be a good idea to rent an apartment with him.

And he is. Or at least he will being renting an apartment with Naruto. Soon. When their current respective leases are up in May, shortly after they begin their third year at Tama, they'll be moving to Narita. They'll be living together without living apart. Not too far from the Hachiouji campus, in this affordable little place they agreed on after spending a two month process weeding through various listings and disappointing appointments.

Although he knows the attraction between them is no longer simply platonic on his part, sometimes, amid the internal struggle to articulate what it is exactly he's looking for from Naruto, sometimes, he really does feel it'd be more constructive to suffocate Naruto with the very same futon he uses too much.

Yet here, lying in the quiet reserved for the normalcy in these kinds of moments between them, he's almost tempted to reach out for Naruto, almost tempted to give into this funny little urge to play with Naruto's hair just to see what kind of expression he would make.

It's a temptation that hasn't presented itself until now, something well beyond what he can only attribute to the sort of teenage crush harboured by shy glances and naive expectations inspiring clumsy promises clutched by fingers nervously intertwined he's never experienced before.

If he were a little more sentimental, if he dared to place credibility into the kinds of superficial labels he doesn't care for, then maybe one of those labels would express a semblance of what he wants Naruto to be.

For a moment, a moment held still so pitiably fleeting, he almost throws all instinctual caution to the wind just to indulge in this one temptation. Arm slow to rise, elbow partially bent, his hand begins to make a blind reach toward the ceiling, as if he's reaching for Naruto, but he lets his arm drop to the floor before it can fully extend.

The desire to keep Naruto all to himself, this selfish little notion spurring an undeniably nonsensical yen leaving him grappling for something, anything, the smallest reassurance to allay that smidgeon of doubt fuelling the stark possibility he's misread Naruto in those instances of hesitation that may have meant nothing at all—this concrete fear, too easily can he imagine a reality where he opens his eyes and Naruto won't be there.

For all Naruto's outward confidence, as tactile a person as he can be, beneath the Naruto always so damn cocksure in everything else he does lies this tentative Naruto who seems overwhelmingly oblivious to even the slightest touch remotely suggestive in nature.

He almost resents Naruto's inattention. Or maybe he would hold a childish resentment if he were in the habit of developing irrational grudges for situations he can only fault himself for. In this situation, namely, it's the consequence of being too subtle for someone as dense as Naruto.

But there are times, so many times in these same kinds of quiet moments between them that he imagines being able to reach out for Naruto with the knowledge that Naruto will always be there, and so many times when he opens his eyes only to lose himself in Naruto's gaze that makes him feel so incredibly transparent, as if written all over his face is the prickling awareness that Naruto has become more than just _Naruto, _and he can't help but feel so pathetically hopeless because Naruto doesn't seem to understand how with just one look, in that one moment, he can make Sasuke feel like he's the only person in the world.

"Sasuke..."

To end up falling so hard for such a ridiculously clueless guy...

"You plan on staying down there all day?"

There's a soft lilt to Naruto's voice, barely heard over the announcer listing the sponsors from some programme on TV Asahi, and Sasuke grunts, swatting at the finger poking his cheek. He squeezes his eyes already shut as the air to the left of him shifts.

"Hey, hey, you're not trying to make me do Kakashi's project on my own, are you? Because you already said you'd help me. You don't get to get out of something like that."

Sasuke blinks, eyes open met with an inquisitive stare and Naruto's face hovering too close above his own. "Go away, Naruto."

"See? What'd I tell you?" But Naruto still sits back, kneeled beside him. He slaps both hands over his knees, and absently, Sasuke wonders when he moved. "_Cranky_."

"Waking up next to you, I can't help it that seeing your face makes me want to go back to sleep."

"Hehe..." Smile wide, Naruto holds out a hand towards Sasuke. "You know how many people would kill for the chance to wake up to the sheer perfection that is my face?"

Sasuke scoffs, taking the proffered hand and pulling himself up. "Everyone in your imagination."

"So mean, Sasuke." Propping himself against the wall, Naruto laughs, extending his legs beneath the comforter he throws over them both. "You're just jealous of my good looks. Admit it."

"Sure." Sasuke inhales, leaning against Naruto with an exhale. He listens to the faint echo of Naruto's laughter gradually beginning to fade, listens to Naruto's steady breathing as he all but dozes off again.

"...hey, Sasuke."

"Hmm?"

"...we hang out together a lot, don't we?"

"We do." Sasuke tilts his head back a little to peer at Naruto. "What about it?"

Naruto shrugs. "Nothing. Just saying. I guess."

"Saying what?"

"That we're friends." Eyes slightly narrowed, Naruto makes a vague gesture with his hand. "I mean, that is what we are, isn't it?" He pauses, fiddling with the edge of the comforter and glancing at the TV screen. "...friends. We're friends."

"I don't know, Naruto," Sasuke breathes, laying his head on Naruto's shoulder. "Are we?"

Abrupt, Naruto straightens his back against the wall, jostling Sasuke. "Yeah, so—hey, um, want to head down to Sukiya for some beef or something?" he rushes out. "I'm starving." He stretches his free arm above his head then reaches down to pat his stomach.

Sasuke sighs. "When aren't you hungry?"

"Shut up. I'm only nineteen. I'm still growing, all right," Naruto says, and Sasuke can almost hear the grin in his words. "Not to mention, I've been trapped under your lazy ass all morning. And then I couldn't find the remote, so I had to suffer through watching Pretty Cure Five—the least you can do is let me eat."

"The least I can do? For all I know, you were probably enjoying it. Or watching Doraemon again."

"So you caught me that one time when nothing else was on. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though, okay." With a low hum, Naruto makes a placating motion with his hand. "But really, I can go and pick something up real quick. Unless you want to stay in?"

"As much we eat out, yeah, I think I can find something to make. Could you..."

Naruto nods. "You shouldn't drink this stuff so much," he says, grabbing from the table a nearly empty bottle of peach flavoured green tea he hands to Sasuke anyway. "Using it to keep yourself up, it's dangerous, you know."

Sasuke accepts the tea with a soft hum. After emptying what's left of the bottle, he screws the cap back on. "It's tea."

"But there's no sugar in it. You keep drinking disgustingly strong tea that's not even sweet. Going through life with so little sugar, that can't be healthy for you."

"Going through life sprouting such senseless things," Sasuke says, employing the empty bottle to hit the side of Naruto's head, which in no way warranted the ensuing screech trying to deafen Sasuke in one ear, "you should only be so lucky you've managed to make it this far."

"What is it _with_ you and hitting me?" Naruto mumbles, sending him a petulant glare turned pout by protruding lips. "You really like seeing me in pain that much?"

"I barely tapped you with an empty plastic bottle. Tell me how that hurt."

"Yeah, well..." Naruto sniffs, turning up his nose. "Whatever. That's not the point. It's the principle of the thing. Between all the hitting and the kicking and all the cruel things you like to say to me, it's just not safe for me to be around you at this point."

Sasuke lets out an amused snort, placing the bottle on the floor and settling against Naruto. He folds his arms over his chest, elongating his legs almost touching Naruto's beneath the thick material of the comforter still warm.

The lag in conversation is filled by the sounds from some variety show featuring a member from Plastic Tree promoting their new greatest hits albums Naruto's been talking about all week. Although Sasuke's not really a fan of the band, he won't deny that he likes the songs Naruto handpicked for him to listen to from the playlist that one day snuck itself onto his mp3 player.

"July can't come fast enough." Naruto groans, letting his head fall on top of Sasuke's.

"It's less than five months away."

"I think you should help me find a way to speed up time or something," Naruto mutters. "Yeah, we should definitely do that."

"It's a greatest hits album. Wouldn't you already have all of the songs on there anyway?"

"Probably. I guess. It's not really the same, though. Because they're one of my favourite bands, I like the idea of being able to show my support for them."

"Don't be so impatient." The heel of Sasuke's foot makes a casual brush across Naruto's ankle, a deliberate touch brief the thin material of his sock sliding against Naruto's bare skin.

Naruto stiffens for a second or two. He takes a deep breath, somewhat shaky, and Sasuke can almost feel Naruto swallowing the lump in his throat. "...I-I'm not impatient," he says, low, almost a harried whisper, but then his shoulders start to relax, and he bumps Sasuke's leg with a firm nudge from his foot, readjusting the comforter covering his lap.

"To call me impatient when you're the one who's always so cranky," he mutters, "I don't see how that's fair."

Sasuke shakes his head against Naruto's shoulder, lowering his gaze to hide the slight curve of his lips the tiniest trace of a smile he doesn't let Naruto see.


	19. Crazy, Crazy Baby

_Thank you again, **Eternal1Winggoddess**, for telling me about chapter four. It's been fixed. For anyone else who read the wrong chapter, I'm really sorry about that._

_Quick warning. Although this series is rated T overall, this part is more of an M, for language and explicit sex that's almost not, because it's all dialogue. Didn't know what else to do with such a silly, short thing (much less the title), so here it be._

_..._

_"I'm this close to sucking you off, and you're the one complaining."_

...

**Crazy, Crazy Baby**

"So...how are we doing this?"

"_We_ aren't doing anything."

"We're not? Didn't you just say—"

"I'm doing this."

"Come on, Sasuke. You don't get to make that kind of decision on your own. Sex involves two people, _two peo_—w-wait, wait a minute. You can't just—"

"I just did."

"Yeah, you just did, you inconsiderate bastard, but who said we're only doing this your—"

"Unless you're changing your mind..."

"The hell I am. Stop trying to put words in my mouth."

"No, Naruto, I'm just trying to put _this_ in mine."

"W-which is good. Great even. The best kind of great that makes me like you a whole lot more right now. And you know how much I already like you. All I'm saying is—"

"Yes?"

"I, uh, all I'm saying is..."

"I'm this close to sucking you off, and you're the one complaining."

"Because I don't see how any of this is fair. What if I wanted to—"

"_Naruto.._."

"Okay, n-never mind. I take it back. We'll do it your way, and you can keep doing that. Yeah, you can—you can...yeah, you can d-definitely keep doing that. Shit, just like that. Keep doing that. Please say you're going to keep doing that."

"...as long as you stop pulling on my hair."

"S-sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to pull so hard, but you're just—I mean, you are really, _really _good at doing that."

"The way you keep saying it, you'd think this was the first time I went down on you."

"I'm going to chose to ignore that for now, but even with a condom, you really do know how to—wait, s-stop, stop, hold on."

"Don't tell me you're already—"

"No—_no_, I am not saying that. You of all people should know I have plenty of stamina. More than enough. I just...since this is our first time trying this kind of sex, I kind of, um, I kind of wanted to do it at the same time with you."

"...you're so hopeless."

"Hey, don't give me that look. Smiling at me like I said something funny, Sasuke, I'm being serious about this."

"I know you are."

"Then what's so funny about me wanting to wait until I'm inside you to—"

"...nothing."

"Nothing?"

"That's what I said."

"I don't think that kind of kiss means nothing."

"It could. Or maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always—oh, _oh_, are you really..."

"Mm-hmm."

"You really are—"

"Relax, Naruto."

"I thought—I thought I was the one who was supposed to say that to you."

"Not when you're the one who's tense."

"Okay, so maybe I am. As good as it feels to be this close to you, though, with you, ah—being able to see you taking me in like this, d-don't you think you're going a little too fast? I don't want to—"

"You won't. But it'll be easier for me to relax once you stop acting like you're actually going to hurt me. Unlike you, I know what I'm doing."

"I'm not saying you don't. And I'm not trying to be nervous. Only, I've never done this kind of thing with another guy before, so, especially since it's with you, I don't want to do anything wrong."

"You're not. Just...just give me a few seconds."

"Are you oka—Sa-sasuke, you..."

"I'm fine."

"I can't believe you're actually, uh, wow, that feels..."

"Are _you_ okay?"

"S-shut up. Someone like you, taking advantage of my inexperience like this, you're killing me."

"Hardly. Think you can manage to stay still a little longer?"

"Not if you keep moving like that."

"Like this?"

"Don't stop. Don't—fuck, you feel good. You feel so good. So fucking good, I just want to—you sure this isn't—"

"We wouldn't be doing this if it did. Stop putting so much thought into this. It's not your strongpoint. Here. Bring—ah, bring...bring your hands h-here."

"Here? Hold you like this?"

"...mmm."

"For you, too, does it..."

"It'd feel a lot better if you moved."

"But what if I—"

"_Move_."

"Not too much, though, okay. N-not too much. Let me start off—why the hell are you suddenly moving faster?"

"Any other time..."

"You're seriously going to pull that one on me."

"...better yet, I'm going to ride you, Naruto."

"I, um...o-okay."

"Hard. Fast. The way we both like it."

"That's, uh, that sounds..."

"And you're going to touch me. You're going to make me feel you everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"Inside and out, you're going to make me _need_ to feel you all over me, because I'm not letting you hold back."

"...saying those kinds of things with such a straight face, you have no idea what I want to do to you right now, do you?"

"Maybe."

"You really think so?"

"I know you. But if I said I still wanted you to show me..."

"...hehe, then it's my turn."


	20. Nothing Better Than You

_**bumbelbee91:** Unfortunately, this still isn't the Shikamaru and Kiba thing. That one's turning out longer than I thought it'd be, but here's extremely cheesetastic fluff instead._

_..._

_"So I'm not allowed to be happy around you anymore?"_

...

**Nothing Better Than You**

"Still not talking to me?"

Raising his arms, Sasuke slips a rumpled grey shirt over his head, the same rumpled grey shirt that's not his with the allegedly demented smiley face he claims not to like but wears the hell out of anyway. "I'm trying to get dressed."

"Answering with a yes or no, I don't think it'd hurt you to try that, too."

"Then no," Sasuke says, hands guiding his arms through short sleeves, "I'm still not talking to you."

Sitting up, Naruto grins and throws his legs over the edge of the bed. Bare feet planted apart wide on the floor, he leans over, resting his elbows on his knees. He brings his hands together, watching Sasuke's back disappear beneath the light grey shirt.

His gaze lowers to the bottom of the shirt falling right above Sasuke's thighs and covering a loose pair of boxer briefs. Slowly, his eyes trail long legs, following a single bead of water leading a path curved along pale skin.

Running a hand through dark hair still somewhat damp, Sasuke bends over, picking up the match to the black ankle sock on his left foot. He barely lifts his right foot off the floor, left leg kept straight as he slips the sock over his heel.

Not consciously, with the unintentional intention of getting a view he can better appreciate, Naruto tilts his head slightly to the side. He tracks the careful movement of deft fingers that were all over him less than an hour ago, especially keen when Sasuke begins to stand, carrying Naruto's gaze back up the length of legs that were also all over him less than an hour ago. Among a lot of other body parts involved in what happened less than an hour ago.

He always did admire Sasuke's really good sense of balance.

"You don't have anything else to do?"

Unfazed by the abrupt sound of Sasuke's voice, in the middle of his blatant staring, Naruto doesn't have the shame to feel guilty about being caught. It isn't like he hasn't been on the receiving end of Sasuke's more subtle gaze from time to time, but he still makes a show of pretending to think. Squinting with one eye closed, he raises a finger to scratch the underside of his chin, eying the open doorway to his left and the large art portfolio sitting next to it on the floor.

Looking back to Sasuke, he sits up and lowers his arm, shaking his head. "Nah, not really."

Sasuke sends him this highly unimpressed look from over his shoulder. "Sitting there wearing that kind of smile, coming across so pleased, it's annoying."

"So I'm not allowed to be happy around you anymore?" One at a time, Naruto rolls up the legs of his black sweatpants above his calves, not trying to hide a laugh at the almost pinched expression on Sasuke's face. "Besides, I thought you weren't talking to me."

"I'm not." Turning around, Sasuke shuts the top drawer to the short wooden chest in front of him.

This unremarkable piece of antique looking furniture that probably survived the Showa period, they're supposed to try to refurbish it sometime this weekend. They splurged for it on a whim last Tuesday, because it was on sale, more than well within their budget, and as much as Naruto doesn't mind Sasuke stealing his stuff, he'd actually like to be able to wear his own clothes every once in a while without worrying about running out of shirts by the end of the week.

Especially since the laundry Sasuke convinces him to do too often, poorly justified by the fact most of the clothes are his (completely ignoring the fact it's not Naruto's fault that Sasuke's clothes just hang there on his side of their tiny little closet), he's not a big fan of it.

At all.

"I guess if you really don't want to talk to me," he says, dragging out the words with a lazy drawl, "sure. Okay."

After moving to close another drawer, Sasuke pauses. Shoulders tense, his hand hovers near the upper right corner of the chest. "Okay?"

Naruto immediately picks up on the suspicion in Sasuke's voice, but he doesn't answer. From the bed, a faint creak follows a soft rustling while he begins to stand. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he takes quick steps spanning the short distance bringing him closer and closer Sasuke.

"What are you—"

He pounces before Sasuke has a chance to finish. The stutter of his name fades into a soft cry of surprise as his arms grab by the waist a stumbling Sasuke who sends them both toppling backwards onto the bed.

They fall with a thump that draws out a loud creak from the bed. Naruto grunts, carrying the brunt of the impact and barely dodging the back of Sasuke's head nearly colliding with his chin. Although Sasuke's far from being the heaviest guy out there, he's not exactly a lightweight, either, especially in a situation where he might start to feel uneasy about being this close to someone he doesn't know.

Sneaking up on Sasuke from behind, the first few times Naruto tried something like this, while he was still trying to get Sasuke to be his friend, experience did well to teach him Sasuke doesn't pull his punches.

He doesn't have to worry about Sasuke retaliating on him for that kind of thing now, obviously. Not to the same extent at any rate. Still, there's something he happens to like about being able to feel Sasuke's weight on top of him like this. It doesn't really make sense to him, not if he starts to think about it too much, but it's more than just the aspect of being a physical sensation fuelling what Sasuke likes to claim is an irritatingly persistent need to constantly _touch_.

More importantly maybe, at least in this instance, if he really wants to think about the implications of intentionally making Sasuke fall for the sole purpose of proving he'll be able to catch him, he'd like to believe there's a significance behind his uncommon but not always uncharacteristic show of subtlety he knows Sasuke tends to respond to better, so Naruto just gives him a light squeeze, securing him in a loose hold that's still firm.

Like he expects, Sasuke starts to wiggle a bit. It doesn't take long for him to relax, though. Head leaned back, hair brushing against the sheets, Sasuke reaches for the arms around him, feet propped near the edge of the bed and on either side of Naruto's legs.

"...Naruto."

"Yeah."

"What's this?"

"I ambushed you."

After a short pause, Sasuke sighs. "Not that you won't make me regret asking..." Palms pressing down against Naruto's forearms, he makes an unenthusiastic attempt to get Naruto to move. "Aside from stating the obvious, why did you suddenly feel the need to have me rethink how much of an idiot you really are?"

"Ah-ha!" Naruto pokes Sasuke in the hip twice. "Call me names all you want, but I still got you willingly talking to me again, didn't I?"

Sasuke's chest rises, like he's getting ready to say something, but then he just sighs again. "I don't even know why I bother."

"Because you know you can't deny that I'm right."

"No. Now let go."

"Actually," Naruto says, keeping one arm around Sasuke's torso while his other hand moves to slip beneath Sasuke's shirt, "I'm kind of comfortable right now."

"I'm not."

"That's not what you said earlier."

"Naruto..." Making a weird little noise, Sasuke twitches, tense at the fingers on his skin slowly beginning to trace a path along his side. "Don't you—"

Of course, what he already knows Sasuke was going to tell him not to do, Naruto does it anyway, practised fingers darting over Sasuke's skin, attacking without restraint and earning him a sharp gasp that has Sasuke jerk violently in his arms.

It's no secret Sasuke doesn't like being tickled. Although Sasuke will let him get away with doing it every once in a while, he knows he's still pushing his luck the few times he does it, but he seriously can't help it if he thinks it's funny the way a squirming Sasuke twists into all these awkward looking angles trying to get away from him.

"N-Naru—Naruto, let me—"

But when Sasuke actually starts to laugh, actually breaks into this uncontrollable fit of these really cute sounding giggles while he's contorting his body and flailing all over the place, now that's just downright hilarious.

More than Sasuke's contagious giggling, though, being able to see him completely come undone like this—well, Naruto just about loses it at that.

"D-damn it, Naruto, you stupid—" Trying and failing to grab Naruto's hands, Sasuke bends his back into this incredibly high arch, heels digging into the sheets in an attempt to escape relentless fingers. "I'm going to kill—s-stop it, _stopitstopitdie_."

Naruto just continues to laugh, smile stretched wide even though he knows Sasuke will probably find a way to inflict some cruel form of retribution to get him back tenfold, but for now, being able to hear that kind of unreserved laughter from Sasuke, simply knowing Sasuke is comfortable enough with him to allow him to do this, it's definitely worth it.

Or at least it is until Sasuke nearly guts him with his elbow. Once. Twice. But then Naruto decides better than to risk a third close call when he finally lets his arms fall away.

Moving pretty fast for a guy who looks so breathless, Sasuke rolls off Naruto and onto his back, head landing smack dab in the middle of the oversized pillow nearly half the width of the bed. Mouth slightly parted, he stares up at the ceiling with closed eyes, chest heaving and arms held listless above his head.

A moment or two passes, and Naruto watches with an already wide self-satisfied grin that only continues to grow when a tight-lipped Sasuke turns on his side to face him.

Left leg bent, Sasuke slides it up the bed, bringing it closer to his chest. He shifts his right knee to rest on his left foot, watching Naruto with narrowed eyes.

He's more than used to Sasuke's glares by now. Not that they did much to deter him in the first place. If anything, Sasuke putting down all those efforts to gain his attention ended up goading Naruto that much more—still does, actually. Although considering the messy dark hair sticking up every which way and the flushed cheeks that are starting to look a little puffy, Sasuke inadvertently doing his best to imitate the one thing Naruto can't unsee ever since Itachi told him about it, the last thing that glare does is make Sasuke look menacing.

"...you jackass."

Naruto grins at the hand shoving against his chest. He already knows Sasuke isn't seriously trying to push him away. "Since when does wanting to make you feel better make me the jackass?"

"When I'm finished with you, Naruto, there won't be anything left of your body to find."

"Heh." Rubbing a finger against the side of his nose, Naruto chuckles. "Can't blame me for not being ticklish like you."

"I can. And I will."

"You're not really going to hold a grudge over something like—hey, man code, man code—_watch it_. No kicking down there, all right." Both hands guarding his very, highly important assets, Naruto cringes when Sasuke's foot hits his arm, a little too close to his crotch for comfort. "That's the part of me we both really like, remember?"

"Do I look like I care? Be grateful this is the only thing I'm in the mood to do right now."

"What kind of—h-hey, hey, didn't I just say that area's off limits? Kicking me so casually, I know we already talked about you resorting to this kind of thing before."

"Like I'm even hitting you that hard." Sasuke sticks his leg out again, the heel of his foot this time digging into Naruto's thigh. "You really think I'd do that to you?"

"The way you keep kicking at me, yeah," Naruto says, deflecting another onslaught that seems more like some kind of personal vendetta against his thigh. "Cause it sure as hell doesn't look like you're too far off from trying to neuter me."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "You would think to put it that way, wouldn't you," he says, getting Naruto in the leg one more time. "If you haven't noticed, I've been trying to kick you off the bed."

"Trying to kick me off the—" By the time Naruto realises how close to the edge he's been moving, he's already falling off the bed, and he squeaks, eyes large as he watches Sasuke's face disappear.

He lands on the floor with a swift thud, quiet with the exception of a low groan more out of irritation from being pushed off the bed than any kind of pain. But, slight irritation aside, it didn't hurt. He wasn't expecting it to, either. The short drop was an uneventful trip he can say he's made a few times before. Although, despite how often Sasuke does threaten to kick him off the bed, it's the first time he's actually tried to do it. Not that Naruto assumes it'll be the last, knowing how unforgiving Sasuke can be sometimes, but usually, when he does find himself on the floor, it has more to do with his bad sleeping habits rather than Sasuke's self-conscious nature.

In the meantime, though, he stretches out on the floor and makes himself comfortable, leaving one leg up while extending the other. Placing his hands beneath his head, he waits, listening to the shuffling noise from the bed growing louder as it comes closer.

Two or three seconds later, Sasuke peers over the edge of the bed, laying his head on the oversized pillow tucked under one arm.

Naruto meets the quiet concern in Sasuke's gaze with a grin. "Not even going to ask me if I'm okay?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"Uh, considering you just kicked me off the bed, yeah. You could afford to look a little less uncaring. What if I got hurt or something?"

"You didn't."

"But still. What if I did?"

"You're fine."

"You could at least pretend to worry about me, you know. For my sake."

"For your ego, you mean." Lifting his head, Sasuke makes this small little frown. "I don't like being tickled."

"I know. That's why I did it."

"And that's why you're on the floor. You shouldn't be so dramatic anyway."

"I am not—" Quickly, Naruto sits up, standing on his knees and crossing his arms he throws on top of the bed. "...dramatic."

Sasuke snorts. "You're messy, too." Ignoring Naruto's offended cry, he beckons him closer with a finger Naruto follows without hesitation. "Let me see."

"What is it?"

"There's something on your mouth."

"Where?" With the back of his hand, Naruto rubs at the corner of his mouth. He goes cross-eyed when he looks down, trying to see if he got whatever it is Sasuke's talking about. "Did I get it?"

"No, you..." Licking his thumb, Sasuke reaches to wipe a spot above Naruto's upper lip. "Something white," he says, drying his thumb on the sleeve of Naruto's dark blue shirt.

"Oh." Naruto blinks. "Probably that cream custard filling you made. It was actually pretty good. Better than the raspberry jam one. That wasn't bad, either, but the green tea roll cake, even though it's less sweet, I think you should keep that recipe. It's different."

"I'm going to assume you already ate the rest of it."

"What? It's not like you made a lot of it. And you said I could have it."

"I did. I just didn't think you'd finish it all at once."

"I know I tease you about your food sometimes—"

"Sometimes?"

"Okay, okay, a lot—I tease you about your food a lot," Naruto admits, cocking his head towards Sasuke with a playful smile, "but I mean it. This one was good. Really."

Eyes closed, Sasuke makes a soft hum, readjusting the pillow in his arms. He lowers his cheek against the pillow, hiding the right side of his face as he opens his eyes.

"So..." Naruto props his chin on his forearm. "As long as you plan on keeping up with this whole not talking to me thing, it still means you're not, not kissing me, though, right?"

At first, Sasuke doesn't answer, but then he starts to crack this barely there indulgent smile. "...yeah, Naruto."

"Just wanted to make sure." Naruto grins. "Seeing that I really like kissing you, I don't want you to stop kissing me because of something like this, okay."

When Sasuke doesn't say anything, gently, Naruto prods an exposed cheek. "The old pervert knowing about your paintings, that is okay, isn't it?"

"I didn't say it wasn't okay."

"No, you just stopped talking to me." Naruto snorts. "Even though you already have some exposure, because the pervert knows a lot of people that are into the more traditional stuff, I thought you'd be happy about this. I can't be excited for the both of us all the time, you know. It doesn't work like that."

"You told me," Sasuke says slowly, "while we were in the middle of having sex, you told me your uncle—the same uncle you always accuse of being a dirty old man and the reason why you're such a pervert now—wanted me to be part of a book he was working on with a friend. Tell me, Naruto. How was I supposed to react?"

"Well, when you put it that way, since most of his books are pretty much perverted memoirs, it almost sounds like I was telling you he wanted you to join a thr—"

Sasuke reaches to tug on Naruto's ear. Hard.

"Owowow—okay, I get it, I get it. It sounds bad, really bad—I get it." Squinting, Naruto lets out an irritated huff when Sasuke releases his ear. "...I don't remember it coming out like that, though. Seriously. Whatever came out, that's not what I was trying to say, obviously, but I only decided to bring it up then because it's easier to talk to you about your paintings when you're more...you know," he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Annoyance taking up the form of a half-hearted glare, Sasuke flicks Naruto's shoulder. "Doesn't matter what you were trying to say. It's what you ultimately did say."

"Except you're not me. You wouldn't be so quick to jump to the wrong kind of conclusion. I know what I said isn't what got you upset, so I still don't get why you stopped talking to me. I mean, I tell you Jiraiya knows people who just happen to know other people who are really big on the kinds of things you're really good at doing, and suddenly you go all shy on me."

"Shy, Naruto?"

"All right, maybe not the normal people kind of shy—since apparently you can't be normal like normal people. But the special kind of Sasuke shy that usually involves you putting me in the kinds of situations I generally consider unfavourable to my overall wellbeing whenever you're embarrassed."

Sasuke glances to the side, mouth pressed against the pillow muffling his voice. "You're an embarrassing guy."

"See? Like that," Naruto says, smiling at Sasuke's expression. "But if that's the case this time, then it just makes me feel like you can't accept me helping you.

"Even though my uncle came to me about the idea, I'd still like to think I'm entitled to do this kind of thing for you, to do what I can for you. Taking care of you, I don't really get a chance to do it. And I like doing things for you. Not because I think you need me to do things for you, but because I want to do things for you. It's just harder when you won't let—"

Teeth lightly skimming across Naruto's bottom lip, slowly, Sasuke begins to pull away. "I won't let you what?" he breathes, coarse strands unravelling from his finger as it follows the hair trailing along the side of Naruto's face.

"...kissing me like that without warning, Sasuke, now I just feel like you're trying to distract me."

Sasuke gives him this amused little smile. "You're the one who can't even take care of yourself."

Laying an arm over Sasuke's pillow, Naruto returns the smile with a sly one of his own. "That's what I have you for."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. It is. And the sex, too. Although that's probably because it's the one thing you'll actually let me get away with."

Sasuke snorts.

"Don't pretend you don't like me."

"I never said I liked you."

"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto says, hand making a brief sweeping motion at himself, "what isn't there to like about all of _this_?"

"What is there?"

"You always say the nicest things, don't you."

"Acting as if I like you, there's nothing nice about that. There's nothing I should like about a loser like you."

"What if I gave you the best reason of them all," Naruto says, "would that be enough for you to like me then?"

"...depending on what it is."

A smile is quick to spread across Naruto's face. "Remember earlier, when you asked me if I had anything else to do?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "You were staring at me."

Naruto lets out a low chuckle, reaching up with a palm that curves around the back of Sasuke's neck. "Okay, yeah, I'll cough up to that," he says, fingers absently playing with the hair still not fully dry at Sasuke's nape, "but you know why I said no?"

Eyes soft, Sasuke allows Naruto to bring him closer "...why?"

"Because being here with you," Naruto whispers, his lips a bare brush against Sasuke's mouth, "I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."

With a scowl, Sasuke shoves Naruto away. He grabs the oversized pillow, misusing it to repeatedly smack a shamelessly grinning Naruto who can't stop laughing behind the arms he holds up to protect his face from Sasuke's assault.

"What? Saying that kind of thing to you, I can't help it if it's true."

"You corny _idiot_!"


	21. Give Your Smile to Me

_**emerald**: Thank you. I'm glad you liked how these two turned out. ^^;;_

_..._

_"The last time I let you finish that kind of irresponsible train of thought, you tried to sing to me."_

...

**Give Your Smile to Me**

Two beers in hand, Naruto places the bottles on the coffee table, next to the bowl of caramel popcorn and the Doraemon mug nearly full of Sasuke's tea still steeping.

"So..."

Sasuke continues to sketch, not looking up as Naruto plops down beside him. Bright orange mechanical pencil in hand, fingers smudged with graphite and blue ink direct swift motions across an imaginary landscape, recreating a wide scope of mountains overlooking a vast sea in the middle of a storm.

"There's something I've been putting a lot of thought into lately."

Turning his black sketchbook sideways, Sasuke shifts a little, keeping his legs crossed and leaning his elbow against the left arm of the couch. He still doesn't acknowledge Naruto, focused on the sketch slowly beginning to come to life.

"Taking you to Mobara, introducing you to my family..."

Casual, bringing his right foot over his left knee, Naruto clears his throat. Following a short pause, including Sasuke's lack of response, he does it again. Then again. And again. After clearing his throat for a fifth time, finally, Sasuke acknowledges his existence.

"Yes, I am ignoring you on purpose."

The sound of Naruto sucking his teeth cuts through the repetitive music from the TV playing in the background. "Pretending I'm not here, that kind of method, there's no way you still think it'd ever work on me."

Loosening his hold on the pencil's barrel, Sasuke begins to add more detail, lightly shading to define the smaller mountains farther off in the distance. "Unless you want to extend your rental fee for a movie we aren't even watching..."

Naruto mimics Sasuke's bored tone. He makes a few faces, sticking out his tongue for good measure. "Anyway, like I was saying, since the day after the thirteenth is next Tue—"

"Here's where I'm going to be generous and do you a favour." Gaze fixed on his sketch, Sasuke pauses, teeth dragging along the corner of his bottom lip. His thumb taps twice the top of his pencil with two quick clicks pushing lead through the other end. "Whatever it is you're thinking—no."

Naruto scrunches his nose, right foot falling to the cushion and pressed against his inner thigh as the upper half of his body turns towards Sasuke. "You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"You want to make a big deal out of Valentine's Day. That's all I need to know."

"What's wrong with wanting to do something roman—"

"No."

"Tch. If you'd just let me fini—"

"The last time I let you finish that kind of irresponsible train of thought, you tried to sing to me." Sasuke lifts his gaze, glare pronounced and not the least bit close to forgiving. "You even _think_ to pull that kind of shit with me again, Naruto, and I guarantee you will be spending the rest of your life alone."

Naruto shoves at Sasuke's knee with his leg. "You stingy bastard, I was the one freezing my ass off after I gave you my—"

Shoving him back, Sasuke scoffs, closing the sketchbook and slipping the clip of his pencil onto the spiral binding. "Only because it made you stop screeching at me with that Yamashita song."

"...I don't think my singing's that bad," Naruto mumbles, glancing towards the wall, at the photo of him and a Sasuke struggling not to smile standing on the pier in the foreground of the Shinshibaura Canal.

"You're right." Sasuke agrees with an absent hum. "It's much worse."

"You're just saying that because I didn't stop laughing when I said your face was starting to look like a toma—"

"Out of second-hand embarrassment for someone so blatantly tone-deaf. Making such a scene in public like that..."

"Spending Christmas Eve in Shibaura, you can't tell me you weren't—"

"Forget it." Thin lips draw into a firm line, and there's a slight hunch to Sasuke's back as he folds his arms over the sketchbook in his lap. "You know I'm not—"

"Yeah, I know, I know." Smile coaxing, Naruto lifts Sasuke's face with both palms rubbing circles against squished cheeks. "I don't go for that type of stuff, either. Mostly. But celebrating this kind of couple's occasion together for the first time, it'll be fun. Promise."

"You keep saying that about too many things."

"Because it will be. Fun, that is. And you usually end up going along with what I say anyway, eventually, so I don't see why you won't save us both the trouble and just give in now."

Sasuke pushes away the hands holding his face. "What part of no," he says, carefully removing Naruto's glasses, with the bend of thin, dark red frames held between two fingers, "do you not understand?"

"Eh, sometimes it's really hard to tell with these kinds of things concerning someone like you."

Giving him this resigned sort of expectant look, Sasuke simply stares, only breaking the seemingly indifferent gaze when he suddenly blows air into Naruto's right eye.

Naruto blinks once. Then two more times. "Especially when you do things like that."

Head tilted towards him, Sasuke makes this vague little noise, not quite a yes but definitely not another no, either, so Naruto takes it as his cue to move forward, leaning closer to Sasuke, because he knows it's only a matter of time before his very useful ability to be annoyingly persistent (or so Sasuke claims) wins out against Sasuke's not so reluctant appearance of reluctance.

"How long have you known me, Naruto?"

"Long enough that if I buy you that really bitter dark chocolate for Valentine's Day, you'll buy me that fruit cream white chocolate I really like for White Day?"

At the corner of Sasuke's mouth is the slightest little twitch. There's this almost there, almost shy kind of smile that just about makes Naruto's heart drop to his stomach and jump right back up to do all these crazy stupid flip-flops behind his chest.

"Or—_or_," he says, raising a finger alongside the teasing glint in his eyes, "how about you buy me that really fluffy kind of chocolate for Valentine's Day, and I'll buy you those strawberry marshmallows you think I don't know you secretly like for White Day."

Gently, Sasuke places the rectangular glasses on Naruto's face, adjusting the bridge of the frames resting on Naruto's nose. "Spending money on those kinds of things, there's no point."

Naruto grins, stretching his left arm behind Sasuke and letting it hang over the back of the couch. "Then maybe you could just let me be your Valentine."

Head thrown back, lying on top of Naruto's arm, Sasuke makes another little noise, this time more of a groan that doesn't exactly not sound like exasperation, giving the impression there's probably something unflattering about Naruto's intelligence floating around in his head. "Isn't it enough that you never leave me alone?"

"Being around you so much, being able to bother you like this, because I have the chance to do it now..." Naruto blushes with a nervous laugh. He stares at the various ink pens scattered on the coffee table, rubbing the heel of his palm along the fabric of his pants. "Sometimes, I, uh...I get this really strong feeling—sort of like this...this _need_ to try to make up for all that time before I met you, even though I already know I'll never be able to, so..."

"...admitting to that kind of thing so readily," Sasuke murmurs, looking away when Naruto raises his head to watch him. Sitting up, he reaches for the sketchbook that nearly falls to the floor. He slides out the pencil tucked inside the spine and opens the sketchbook to a blank page. Flipping the barrel between two fingers, he pokes Naruto's nose with the small eraser white save for the few marks barely showing signs of use. "Who knows what I should do with such a forward guy."

Again, Naruto blinks, eyes tracing the light grey lines following the path of the pencil now being led across paper. "What was that for?"

Gaze lowered, Sasuke keeps his attention on his sketchbook, profile partially hidden by dark hair, but then this smug little grin starts to surface when he pushes the hair away from his face. "I won't go through the trouble of buying something I already know how to make. It's a waste of—"

"Homemade chocolate?" Despite the very noticeable tic forming over Sasuke's left eye, Naruto's already wide smile continues to grow as he scoots closer to him. "Really? Since it's the thought that counts, I wouldn't mind risking food poisoning for this kind of rare proposal from you, but you'll really make me—"

"Who said I'd give you homemade chocolate?" Lips pursed, Sasuke turns narrowed eyes on Naruto, the dig about his occasionally questionable cooking skills all but forgotten. "Making that kind of assumption on your own, I said I wasn't going to buy chocolate for you. Not buying chocolate doesn't necessarily mean I'd actually—"

"Too late." With mock concern, Naruto shakes his head. He consoles Sasuke with a couple pats on the shoulder, cautiously removing his hand when Sasuke gives him this incredibly grumpy look. "Can't take back what you already said."

Annoyed glance replacing the glare, Sasuke leans forward, setting his sketchbook and pencil on the coffee table in exchange for the mug of tea he picks up with both hands. "You're looking too deeply into the situation."

"It's okay. For your sake, I can pretend to be surprised."

Taking a small sip, wary, Sasuke peers at him from over the rim of the Doraemon mug. "Sitting so close to me while wearing that kind of shameless expression..."

Naruto reaches for both bottles of beer. Tipping one upside down, holding it by the neck, then uses the sharp edge of the undercarriage to pop off the other bottle's cap. "You shouldn't say that like it's a bad thing."

"Anything that involves you is a bad thing." Sasuke takes another sip of his tea, completely unmoved as they both watch the beer cap fly to the other side of the room and hit the wall. "And you couldn't use the bottle opener because..."

"And pass on the chance to show off? Come on, Sasuke." Grin on the far side of disarming, Naruto sets down the other beer. Grabbing the remote with his free hand, he lies back on the couch, stretching his legs and propping his feet on the edge of the coffee table. "Displaying my skill with that kind of technique, even you have to admit it was cool."

"I didn't know being able to open a bottle could be considered a skill."

"Like you weren't impressed."

Leaning against him, Sasuke snorts, but there's still this tiny little smile he tries to hide behind the mug he raises to his mouth, the same shy kind of smile that only serves to further encourage Naruto's grin at the half-hearted nudge from Sasuke's fingers pressing into his side. "Just start the movie."


	22. I Just Wanna Love With You

_"The only medicine I need is you."_

...

**I Just Wanna Love With You**

The number seventy in the lower right hand corner marks the page where Sasuke slips a torn sheet of paper jagged along its side, holding his place in the worn anthology frayed and coming undone at the seams of the spine.

Stretched out on the couch, he sits up, folding his legs beneath and holding the book in his lap, frowning at the sight of Naruto stepping out of the hallway. "I thought you were sleeping?"

"...tired of sleeping all day." Naruto shuffles into the middle of living room, stilled by a hacking cough that only sounds a little less cringe worthy than it did this morning. He gives a few pats to his chest, forcing out another cough that sounds as congested the first. "I don't like being sick."

"That's nice." Leaning over the edge of the couch, Sasuke reaches for the can of Perrier on the floor. He pulls back the tab, a fine mist of bubbles tickling his nose as he swallows a generous sip of water. "Now go be sick somewhere else."

"Isn't this the part where you're supposed to offer to take care of me?" An oversized pillow clutched at his side, Naruto brings closer around him the large fleece blanket pulled over his head, covered from head to knee in a bright orange that clashes with messy tufts of blond hair sticking out from beneath the blanket framing his face.

"Coming across so pitiful because of a cold, giving me that look, what kind of self-respecting man are you?"

Naruto just sniffs. "_Sasuke_..."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke places his water on the table. "Come here, you baby." The book in his lap he sets aside, tucks it between the cushion and arm rest to make room for Naruto on the couch.

"Treating me so poorly after leaving me by myself all day..."

"My schedule doesn't revolve around you." Right arm raised midair, elbow bent, Sasuke watches Naruto settle against his side, patient as the upper half of the oversized pillow being fluffed spills into his lap. "Not having any classes today, be appreciative you didn't have to go through the trouble of getting a doctor's note."

"You remember that the next time you're sick, and you want me to take care of you."

Sasuke lowers his arm. "Okay."

"I'm serious," Naruto says, haphazardly sprawled, tangled within the blanket, lying on his back and taking up as much space as humanly possible. Laying his head in Sasuke's lap, he brings up his knee of the foot planted on the cushion, his other leg lifted and draped over the back of the couch.

"Mm-hm." Hand slipping beneath a grey a-shirt, gently, Sasuke begins to massage Naruto's chest, fingers applying a slight pressure across his sternum.

"...oh, yeah." Eyes closing, Naruto makes a low noise almost a purr, a deep rumble that travels through warm skin and becomes a tingle at the tips of Sasuke's fingers. "Right there. That...that feels good."

"You want to take some more medicine?"

Naruto peers up with eyes half-lidded, drawn on his face slightly flushed a drowsy smile Sasuke can't fully blame on the medicine he gave Naruto earlier. "The only medicine I need is you," is a soft murmur, stuck around that same inane smile, but the smile disappears beneath a grimace when Naruto starts to cough again.

He turns on his side, knee dropped closer to his chest, leg falling from the back of the couch and shoulders hunched.

"Saying that kind of thing even with a cold..." Sasuke sighs, inhaling the faint smell of methanol as his fingers absently run through blond hair. Gradually, his hand moves lower, kneading the back of Naruto's neck. "You're such an impossible guy."

Leaning into Sasuke's touch, Naruto moans, left arm reaching to hold Sasuke's waist. "...I don't like being sick," he mutters, a little hoarse. His other arm curls around the lower half of the pillow, and he extends both legs, one stretched out uneven over the right arm rest.

"Go back to sleep then."

"Sleeping all day makes you even more tired at night. Did you know that?" Following another groan, Naruto shifts again, pulling himself closer to Sasuke. "Did I already say how much I don't like being—wait, are these...are these my pants?"

A finger and thumb reach to tug at the soft red material of the hem revealing Sasuke's ankle. "These are my pants, aren't they. Why are—you know how long I've been looking for these?"

"I'm surprised you noticed."

"Being sick doesn't mean I can't recognise my own pants," Naruto mumbles into the pillow. He turns his head to face Sasuke. "Then what makes you doing this sort of thing even worse, you like to make me wash whatever you steal, since you're the kind of guy too lazy to wear your clothes."

"You must not be that sick if you still have this much energy to complain."

Naruto sniffs, finger poking Sasuke's hip. "I'm starting to feel better," he says, although Sasuke keeps to himself how awful Naruto's cough still sounds. "That citrus aloe stuff you bought helped a little. You could have warned me it had pulp in it, though." He scrunches his nose then shudders. "There should be a ban on putting pulp in juice. I don't know how you can drink it like that."

Sasuke makes a soft noise, rearranging the blanket over Naruto and pulling it up to his chest.

"What're you still doing up, anyway?"

"Reading Akutagawa."

"Oh." Tightening his hold around him, closing his eyes, Naruto begins to nod off. "You're still on that? I'd think you read all that guy's stories by now."

"Blame Kakashi." Sasuke grunts, reaching for the book beginning to dig into his thigh. "Giving me the book was his idea of a bribe, but I'm trying to decide if it's worth putting up with him for another term. It's bad enough I have to deal with him outside of class as much as I do."

Naruto smiles, an already soft expression seemingly made softer by his eyes still closed. "...I didn't know you liked him so much."

Whether he's referring to Akutagawa or Kakashi, Sasuke doesn't ask. Reaching around Naruto, elbow laid over his side, he opens the anthology of short stories. The scrap piece of paper marking his place on page seventy, he moves it to the back of the book and picks up where he left off on _Akiyama_.

He listens to Naruto breathe, continues to read as the rise and fall of Naruto's chest begins to slow. In the quiet that settles in the room, halfway through the story, he flips another page. It doesn't take much longer, however, before the arm around his waist becomes lax and the abrupt sound of loud snoring breaks through the silence.

There's a low rustle as Naruto's other hand falls off the seat of the couch, fingers almost but not quite touching the floor.

Looking down, Sasuke lets out a soft snort. Cheek squished against the pillow, mouth ajar and nose tinged red, it's the same unattractive image of Naruto he left with this morning, the same face a constant image in the back of his mind all day, and he bites at the corner of his lip, turning back to his book when his teeth fail to curb a tiny smile.


	23. In This World Together With You

_I meant to put this up sooner, but life and stuff and reasons. And the recent changes are throwing me off a bit. But meh. It is what is it. This one takes place about a month before they graduate Tama and makes a small reference to The Theory of Happiness (ch. 17), with a tiny, self-indulgent slip of semi-canon-esque mythology thrown in. In my defence, I was going with the flow. My sense of humour is kind of...out there._

_**Guest:** No, no, I'm glad you decided to say something. Concrit's a good thing, and I appreciate your honesty. I'm very flattered by it, really, so thank you. ^^_

_With the whole the subtitle bit, ngl, that's actually how my mind works on occasion, lol, but I do understand what you're saying. And I agree, so you've definitely given me something to think about. Especially being written in English, it probably makes me seem like I'm trying too hard at times, which I will readily admit to doing *g* but it's always better not to appear that way. Although I will say I feel like I'm in a sort of "come what may" phase, so I'm just waiting to see what happens._

_**Ennu:** Thanks for reading. ^^_

...

_"I've never seen this possessive side of you before."_

...

**In This World Together With You**

"Why do you always have to be so annoying?"

"I'm not being annoying. I'm trying to be realistic here. Seriously, what if he calls me first? You actually expect me _not_ to answer him?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Block his number. There's no reason for him to call you."

Slowly, Naruto's mouth begins to curl into a smile. "You really do have a complex, don't you?"

Legs supporting both elbows, Sasuke drops his head, hiding his face behind his hands, but they do little to stifle a loud groan that sounds suspiciously close to being a threat promising bodily harm.

"I've never seen this possessive side of you before," Naruto whispers, lowering his mouth to hover near Sasuke's ear despite the elbow that half-heartedly tries to nudge him away. "It's a very new thing to me."

"...shut up, Naruto."

Sitting up, Naruto laughs. "And here I thought you'd be happy with the two of us getting along."

"Not over something like this," Sasuke hisses. He lets his arms fall, lifting his head with narrowed eyes all but boring holes into Naruto's skull. "I'm serious. You're not allowed to speak to him anymore."

"But this whole possibility-of-you-still-being-hung-up-on-your-fir st-crush thing..."

"Just...just stop." Sasuke grits his teeth, the faint flush colouring his face not hidden by the shade from the trees high above them. "Stop talking."

Since Sasuke's left eye hasn't started twitching yet, Naruto knows it's still safe to talk. Not to say he would've kept silent even if the telltale twitch made an appearance. The art of teasing Sasuke is a difficult skill he's worked hard to perfect, very hard in fact, jumping on every chance to improve, and he can't help the grin that only continues to grow at the blush totally ruining Sasuke's glare.

"I mean, the idea of you wanting to spend the rest of your life with someone who's not me, I'm still trying to decide whether or not I should be concerned about the nature of this confession."

"I was five. And it was—he was..." Shifting on the bench, Sasuke reaches for the plastic fork sticking out from the disposable takeout container in Naruto's lap. He stabs at the only piece of spicy barbecue chicken not drenched in mayonnaise and stuffs the bite-sized portion in his mouth, both cheeks bloated like one of those pet chipmunks Naruto used to imitate as a kid that one time he spent a few weeks with his uncle in Hokkaido.

Taking too long to chew, finally, Sasuke swallows with a defeated sigh. "I was five," he murmurs, head held high while pointedly looking away.

Naruto snorts, resting his face against Sasuke's shoulder when his body starts to shake trying to hold back another series of snickers he ends up letting out anyway. "It's cute, though. In a really weird and creepy kind of way, I guess," he says, laughing at Sasuke's pinched expression as he raises his head alongside the finger that pokes Sasuke's cheek. "But thinking of a little version of you going around confessing that you wanted to marry Itachi when you grew up..."

"I can't believe he told you that. He wasn't supposed to tell anybody that." Sasuke drops his fork back into the takeout box. "Nobody outside of our family's supposed to know about that."

"When it comes to learning embarrassing things about you," Naruto says, wiggling his eyebrows, "I think I've earned the right to be the exception by now."

Closing his eyes, Sasuke lets out another groan.

Naruto pops a piece of chicken in his mouth, licking the excess mayonnaise near the corner of his bottom lip with a grin. "He started telling me about how you used to follow him around all the time, doing things like making him burnt food, rushing to get home from school so you could be the first one to meet him when he got back. And that note you left on his desk, the one saying you were doing your best to take care of your big brother, preparing to spend the rest of your life with him."

"After spending four years studying here, you would think you'd want to live to see your own graduation."

"The real kicker, though, the day your Aunt Kayou got remarried for the first time, right after the wedding, he said Tamaki was the one who suggested you guys should get married, too, because Sai scared you both into believing that if you didn't map out your future by the time you were six, on your sixth birthday, in the middle of the night, that Orochi dragon was going to come and eat you. S-so—so, even though Itachi tried to explain why you didn't need to marry him and Tamaki didn't need to marry Kagami—and even after Sai got in trouble for what he did, you guys still wouldn't sleep without one of your mom's combs under your pillow for a month. A _month_. Someone like you, I never would have thought you used to be so superstitious."

Ignoring Sasuke's dark look growing increasingly darker, fanning his face with one hand, Naruto takes a few seconds to breathe, chest heaving beneath the strain of laughing too hard. "But oh—oh, this part right here, when Itachi told me how you guys tried to get your mom to help you find a wedding planner that would accept to plan two weddings with a budget of the couple thousand yen you both had saved up, some holographic Yu Yu Hakusho and Sailor Moon trading cards, and one of your aunt's talking cats—now that was just price—"

With a mortified scowl, Sasuke gives Naruto a hard shove, almost making him fall off the bench. "Stop it already."

"Hey, hey, watch out for the food, all right." On the verge of cracking up again, Naruto readjusts the takeout box in his lap, folding over the lid to close it and setting it to the side. "I know you bought it, but I can't afford to waste really good Korean barbecue. Especially when it's your fault for getting me addicted to this stuff in the first place."

"Naruto..."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Naruto's still smiling, though, and he gives Sasuke a playful nudge with his shoulder. "As long as you promise not to leave me and go running off after Itachi. I don't think Mei would be too happy with that, either. You know. Since she's his fiancée and all."

Again, Sasuke groans, mumbling beneath his breath something Naruto doesn't catch. "...like you never did anything embarrassing at that age."

"Well, actually..." Naruto laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Don't tell anyone this, but when I was six, there was, uh—hehe, there was this one time my dad caught me trying on my mom's clothes."

An eyebrow rises with Sasuke's mock questioning look that's more teasing than anything else. "Something you want to tell me?"

Naruto grins wide, if not a little bit smug. "You already know I'm _all_ man under this."

With a snort, Sasuke rolls his eyes, but he doesn't try to hide the small smile that slips through.

"It wasn't like I could actually fit the clothes or anything. My mom said my dad started freaking out, but she thought it was cute. Even helped me get into one of these really pretty dresses she'd brought back from Italy. She still has the pictures she took, too. Sakura and Ino used to make fun of me for it, after they found the pictures while they were going through our photo albums for some school thing." A thoughtful expression crosses his face, and Naruto gives a simple shrug. "It's not so embarrassing anymore, though. Looking back, I'm okay with it now. I was just doing the kind of thing kids do at that age, so..."

"No. In your case, it just proves you've been depraved since you were that young."

"All of a sudden you think I'm depraved?" Scooting closer, Naruto leans over for a kiss Sasuke draws back from. "What?"

A finger trailing beneath Naruto's chin, Sasuke tips Naruto's head back a little, then slowly, ridiculously slow, he begins to pull his hand away.

Licking his lips, Naruto takes a quick look around the expansive park. Surveying the surrounding trees, he follows the fence made of short wooden posts bordering the wide paved walkway leading past the lake, settling his gaze back on Sasuke. "We're not in public if it's just us." A small frown turns down the corners of his mouth. "Being alone like this, you never had a problem kissing me before."

There's a slight tilt to his head as Sasuke pushes away the hair framing the side of his face, giving him the tiniest little grin. "Because your mouth didn't reek of kimchi mayonnaise then."

Returning the grin with a smile, Naruto relaxes into a comfortable slump against the back of the bench. He scratches the side of his nose with a finger. "So it's like that, huh?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, if that's the way it's going to be..." Gaze darting to the side, in a careless gesture, Naruto draws out a long sigh, stretching out both arms and folding them behind his head. "Then I guess I shouldn't mention that Itachi told me about the time you were four, when you took out your paint set and painted your whole face white and blue after your parents took you to see that Yoshitsune play with the fox guy, because you were seriously convinced you wanted to be a kabuki dan—"

He's cut short by the firm grip from the fingers clutching the front of his shirt and pulling him forward, without thinking leaning toward the low voice that somehow still sounds too far away despite the feeling of being unbearably close when Sasuke's breath tickles the skin right above his upper lip.

"Do you really have to be so annoying?" Dark eyes watch him, half-lidded, real soft, bearing the reserved kind of fond look Naruto's already so familiar with that still has the power to make him a little more dazed than he'd like to admit.

But his mouth acts on its own accord, quick to breach the short distance between them, meeting Sasuke's lips to steal a kiss that leaves Sasuke blinking in surprise. "Yeah," he breathes, grins and leans in again with a hand over the side of Sasuke's face that brings him close and continues to hold him even him closer. "...I do."


	24. It's Alright if It's You

_Tentatively speaking, this takes place after Stand by Me (ch. 15) but before Morning in Your Eyes (Ch. 18). I realise this one isn't really plausible, but then nothing about this series is really plausible, so I missed the train on that one. Here, though, Sasuke and Naruto are in that in-between phase of their relationship. And things ended up going all over the place._

_Quick note. The marathon mentioned is the Tokyo Marathon. About changing Lee's name to Kobayashi, it's a reference to Kobayashi Akira, an actor whose nickname is Mighty Guy. Like Maito Gai. Because I have a very silly sense of humour._

_And Naruto's earring, it's one of those really trivial things that somehow became important to me, so for anyone interested, there's a link to a pic on my profile._

...

_"What does Kiba have to do with wanting me to—why I am even trying to turn this into a discussion? I am not sitting on you."_

...

**It's Alright if It's You**

Soft, his knuckles rap on the wood, an intended series of four knocks interrupted mid-sequence by the abrupt opening of the door revealing Shikamaru standing on the other side.

Lowering his arm, Sasuke looks up. He blinks, taking in the dark circles beneath Shikamaru's eyes, the drawn and worn-out expression that has to be from more than simply a lack of sleep. "...hey."

After a quick glance at his watch, Shikamaru mutters a curse. His elbow moves aside the small duffel bag thrown over his shoulder, while a hand reaches to dig in the back pocket of his jeans for a pack of Black Black gum. He pulls out the last stick and tears it open.

There's a faint smell of mint when he puts the gum in his mouth. It lingers as he crumples in his hand the wrapper and the empty package, stuffing both back into his pocket.

"Is everything..." The clear agitation's a rare display, atypical of a normally composed Shikamaru to appear so distracted, and Sasuke's fingers tug on the drawstrings draped over the front of his left shoulder, rustling the black and yellow sack pack lying against his back. "You're not leaving because I—"

"Oh, it's—no." Suddenly stiff, it takes a moment or two for Shikamaru to allow the tension to ease from his body. "No, it's not that. Nothing to do with that. Didn't mean to make you think—" A finger and thumb rise to pinch the bridge of his nose, following the click of his tongue, and the beginnings of a frown are replaced with a smile stretched too tight. "It's not that serious. Family stuff, I guess I should say."

Sasuke gives a slow nod. "Ah."

"Just frustrated right now. So it's not—" Shikamaru drops his arm, letting out a soft snort that almost turns into a laugh. "I wouldn't even have the energy to deal with that guy back there if he ever thought I—well, between him and the other one, my family may actually be the lesser of two evils."

Sasuke glances to the side, far from inclined to disagree through the smile he tries to stem. "Wouldn't doubt it."

From inside the apartment Naruto calls out to Shikamaru, accusing him of spreading inappropriate lies that aren't true, then cutting himself off halfway through his own tirade to ask who's at the door.

The smile on Shikamaru's face is a gradual set to his features, a shrewd look almost sly alongside his tone an amused drawl. "Who else are you expecting?"

A noticeable strain seeps into Naruto's raised voice, lends a gruff quality to the words seized by low, intermittent grunts. "Sasuke's here already?"

Nearly taking up the entirety of the threshold, Shikamaru continues to hold Sasuke's questioning stare, but it's Naruto he decides to answer. "A hopeless guy like you, as much of a pain as it is to admit," he says, with a quick glance behind him from over his shoulder, "I'm starting to think Kiba was right about the key. It's a wonder you haven't given one to—"

There's a shrill screech and a heavy thump, both drowned out by the loud cry from Naruto demanding to know why Shikamaru isn't not here and not in other places where he really needs to be, promising to kick his too meddlesome ass if he doesn't get out of the way and stop keeping Sasuke from coming in.

Not quite frowning, Sasuke gives Shikamaru a strange look, eyes slightly narrowed wary at the humour in Shikamaru's expression.

Shikamaru simply shrugs, though, retaining a trace of a knowing smile despite the more obvious reluctance that begins to settle as he steps into the hallway to allow Sasuke through. "Listen, I probably won't be back until Monday. Tuesday at the latest, maybe."

Not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable, because he doesn't want to seem intrusive, Sasuke doesn't pry, curiosity set aside at the grateful look he receives in return. He'll ask Naruto about it later. "Anything you need for me to take care of while you're gone?"

Shikamaru begins to say something but then seems to think better of it, adjusting the strap of his duffel bag. "Just make sure Naruto doesn't eat me out of house and home. Since he tends to forget I live here, too. But you'll do that anyway, so..."

Head and shoulder leaned against the doorframe, Sasuke snorts, folding his arms over his middle and crossing one leg in front of the other. "Still haven't figured out where he puts it."

That knowing smile makes another appearance, and Shikamaru shakes his head, turning his face from view. Heading towards the stairs, he raises two fingers in the air, leaving Sasuke behind him with a lazy salute. "See you."

When Shikamaru reaches the end of the hall, Sasuke pushes away from the doorframe and enters the apartment. The door closes with a soft click, and he locks it with the thumbturn on the knob. Still facing the entryway, he carefully takes off his shoes, placing them neatly beside Naruto's running shoes haphazardly thrown against the wall.

"You do know I could hear the two of you badmouthing me from all the way in here, right."

"And?"

"And, he says. _And_." Naruto scoffs. "That really the best you can come up with?"

"The only thing I need when it comes to you. What are you even doing that's making you sound so..." One foot out of the entryway, Sasuke pauses, kept still at the sight of a shirtless Naruto in the middle of the living room, body a long straight line balanced between his feet and one hand supporting his weight while pushing his chest away from the floor.

It isn't that he hasn't seen Naruto without a shirt before. He's seen him without a shirt numerous times. Maybe too many times considering how often Naruto's liable to take off his shirt after finishing one of his routine morning jogs he's somehow been able to drag Sasuke along to every once in a while.

So it's not something to be entirely unexpected.

Or at least it wouldn't be if this wasn't the first time he'd seen Naruto without a shirt since coming to terms with the fact his attraction to him had long ago diverged from a simple emotional appeal.

The initial animosity of their relationship left him unprepared for any level of physical attraction, much less his sudden appreciation of Naruto's back, mentally tracing with his eyes along the sharp motions of taut lines muscles pulsating beneath skin slick with sweat, teeth scraping across the corner of his lower lip at the deep resonance of Naruto's murmurs uncharacteristically low counting from twenty-six to thirty-two, so stupidly transfixed by something as mundane as Naruto doing push-ups, and Sasuke starts at the realisation he's staring.

He's actually _staring_.

Fortunately, Naruto's too absorbed on maintain good form to notice, one arm held steady behind his back, intent on making sure his chin touches the floor with the audible tally of each slow rep. Either that, or he really is as oblivious as he sometimes seems, which, for once, works in Sasuke's favour.

"You done posturing?"

"That, uh...depends." Another grunt, and again Naruto begins to lower his body to the floor, lifting himself back up with a far too confident grin turned Sasuke's way. "You impressed yet?"

"By you?" Leaving the entryway, Sasuke walks into the living area, stepping over a half-empty water bottle and a rumpled black t-shirt turned inside out. "Hardly."

"Way to bring down a guy's self-esteem."

"Like I could ever put a dent in your overinflated ego."

"Still nothing compared to yours, but yeah," Naruto admits, facing forward, breath drawn long through an exhale, "only because I already know you don't mean it."

Sasuke snorts. He pulls the sack pack from over his shoulder and places it down beside the large beanbag chair sat against the wall. "You can read minds now?"

"Nah, I just happen to know you."

The easy conviction almost makes Sasuke falter. Less because of what was said, and more so because of the underlying assurance no different from Naruto's normal resolve.

His thumbs find their way into the front pockets of loose jeans while his shoulders bunch slightly inward, an involuntarily gesture that leaves him feeling a little too self-conscious. Looking away, he turns his gaze towards the TV, hard-pressed to hear the nearly muted voices of the two QVC announcers presenting the bag of TropicalMaria frozen mango chunks being emptied into a glass bowl.

It's not the greatest distraction, but it's an opportunity to look busy. It's enough for the time being. More than enough to validate his unwillingness to be subjected to whatever movies or shows Naruto says they should watch, which he knows is a little unfair of him considering Naruto doesn't actually watch QVC.

The channel mainly serves as background noise, because Naruto likes to claim it helps him concentrate, something he picked up when he was five, during the time his parents had to travel to Spain on short notice, leaving him in the care of an elderly woman, coincidentally a retired teacher, who apparently scarred him for life by making him practice his kana tables over and over again too many times while she just sat there on her really weird smelling chair and watched QVC all day.

_"I'm serious, Sasuke, that bossy old lady must have been pushing a hundred or something. At least. Way before the ashes, she already had one foot in the urn. I kept begging my parents to send someone to come get me because I didn't know when she was going to croak. Especially during the middle of one of those TSV showings she always got a little too excited about, I didn't want to take any chances."_

A loud groan diverts his attention, and he turns back to Naruto, watching him continue another set of push-ups, this time with both hands supporting his weight.

"Do me a favour, would you," Naruto says, pausing to widen the gap between his hands just a little. "Come sit on me."

Sasuke nearly does a double take, nearly stumbles on the words misconstrued as something he's already telling himself he did not hear. "...what?"

"I want you to sit on me."

The second time can't be a coincidence. Because it's not. It isn't. Inopportune, maybe, although it's his own faulty subconscious Sasuke can't help but blame for this increasingly reckless desire to pick apart from his conversations with Naruto numberless times more than once upon many the kinds of things crude variations of what Naruto will probably never say.

So he just gives himself another moment to recover, taking the much needed time to process the implications regarding his newly discovered attraction for Naruto in this state. Squeezing his eyes shut, slowly, _slowly_, he breathes in. He opens his eyes as he breathes out, wilful in his ignorance of the sounds Naruto has yet to stop making and what he can only hope is an incredibly subtle appreciation of Naruto's back, a view of Naruto he'd failed to notice until recently.

Clearly, it's affecting his ability to think. Clearly. But he refuses to let his mind wander around someone like Naruto.

He can't afford to let his mind wander around someone like Naruto.

"You want me," he says, tone even, averting his gaze once more from the path along lithe muscles defining Naruto's shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, "to sit on you."

Naruto lets out an affirmative grunt, in a split second lifting from the floor his hands he brings together in a quick clap before beginning another set of push-ups. "Yeah. You'd be the right amount of weight. Do that whole too stretchy weird bendy thing where you get all foldy and stuff. Then I can fit you on me."

Sasuke blinks. "...you're an idiot."

"I am not a—listen, I need to get the one-up on Kiba before Monday, okay, so if you could just help me out and sit on my back for a few sets, that'd be real good."

Sasuke rubs the heel of his palm against his forehead. After so long, it's a given he should already know better. More often than he'd like to admit, however, Naruto's inability not to go off on some sort of tangent still tends to take him off guard. "What does Kiba have to do with wanting me to—why I am even trying to turn this into a discussion? I am not sitting on you."

"You won't hurt my back, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, Naruto. I'm not worried about hurting your back. I wouldn't bother sitting on your back if I truly wanted to hurt you."

"Then why not?"

Sasuke gives him the driest look he can muster. "You're really asking me that."

Still on the balls of his feet, propped up by his elbows on the floor, Naruto raises his body to a plank position, an unwarranted glare overly critical aimed at Sasuke. "What? You think I'm not strong enough to handle your weight? That I can't handle you on top of me because you'd be too much for me, is that it? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Sasuke just sighs. Then he does it again. And again. Because at this point, it's all he can do while Naruto carries on and on. Out of everything impossibly wrong with this hypothetical scenario, of course, how much weight he's capable of bearing while doing push-ups is the one aspect Naruto would choose to take offence to.

"Because I could so totally take you right now, you know. Hold out all night long if I had to. I have more than enough staying power to keep going with your bony—"

"Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Kind of hard not to," Naruto says, casual, not in the least fazed, "seeing that we're the only ones here. But I really don't see what the big deal is."

"...tell me this is something you would ask anybody else to do. Tell me this isn't something you would only ask me to do."

"Eh...well, um, not really. I wouldn't trust that. But since you _are_ here..."

"No."

"Come on, Sasuke. It's not like I'd let you fall or anything."

"Why would you ask me to sit on your back at all? How are we still having a conversation about this?"

"Because you're my best friend. As much as I'm your best friend. And this kind of thing isn't so different from what we normally do. I mean, you can't exactly deny that we do things like this a lot.

"Like the time Chouji took us to that really old hole in the wall bar that looked like it was going to come down any minute. The Saturday before the one last week, I think. We met up with Kenji and Sho, and all of us shared a huge bottle of that really strong whisky you couldn't handle."

"My alcohol tolerance is on the lower side of average. Get over it."

"No, no, no, because for you, someone like you being such a lightweight—it wasn't even that you drank a lot of it. But you still dropped off on the table, real quiet with your head in your arms, and the rest of us sat there for like ten or fifteen minutes trying to decide whether you were passed out or not."

"...make your point before I do it for you."

Hands flat less than shoulder-width apart, elbows held in, Naruto begins to push up from floor. "Yeah, like glaring at me is actually going to prevent me from talking—my point _is_, majority rules volunteered Kiba to wake you up, except for some reason he thought it'd be a good idea to do it with a freezing can against your face—and this was right after I warned him to stop calling you Himiko, too. Then out of nowhere, suddenly, you just made a straight dive for him and tried to stab at his future little Kibas with the plastic spoon you snatched from Shikamaru.

"Naruto..."

"Oh—oh, the best part, though, here Kiba was, squeaking about how important it is for him to protect his manhood, while you were whispering all these things trying to convince him to hold still. And when you told him it didn't matter if he'd be able to perform or not because the only steady relationship he could keep was the long-distance one with Akamaru, everybody else just fell out _laughing_. I even think Chouji was actually close to crying."

Hair shadowing his eyes, fingers digging into his palm, Sasuke balls at his side the fist he doesn't use to hit Naruto.

"Still don't get how you could forget what happened, but r-remember that Monday, when Kenji teased you about changing your name to Ebichu on his phone, but wouldn't tell you why? The whole thing's because Shikamaru was eating raisin rum ice cream that night, that's where Sho got the—hey, don't look at me like it was my fault. You were the one who caused a scene that time. Matter of fact, I was the one forced to take responsibility for you and ended up having to haul your cranky half-dead ass on my back all the way down—"

"Keep talking, Naruto." Sasuke lifts his head, teeth clenched in an attempt to keep at bay the rising embarrassment overwhelming any genuine irritation inspiring him to shake the life out of Naruto. "Keep talking, and the only part of me that's going to be doing any sitting is my foot on your face."

Using his hands for leverage, in one fluid motion, Naruto jumps to his feet. The thin sheen covering his face continues down to his neck, to his chest and a long torso cut off by the red track pants he wipes his hands against. Quick strides lead him to Sasuke as he tugs up the thick waistband of his pants concealing the black shorts he's wearing underneath.

Hands on his hips, squinting, he looms closer, close enough to differentiate the random handful of strands standing out against normally unruly hair a lighter hue lying nearly flat against his scalp. "You're the violent kind of sleepy drunk. None of that's my fault. But asking you to sit on me, was that really such a bad thing for me to do?"

Never before has the temptation to strangle Naruto been so strong. Barely, though, just ever so barely does Sasuke resist the urge to cry out and attack him.

He settles for the twitch over his left eye instead, the same one that just as soon disappears at the light touch the back of Naruto's hand warm against his cheek.

"...you okay?" Brows furrowed, eyes conveying a too obvious concern, Naruto frowns, pushing back dark hair and placing his hand over Sasuke's forehead. "Your face is getting kind of red. And you're starting to look a little constipated. You're not coming down with something, are you?"

Whatever annoyance the open display may have provoked is waylaid the moment Sasuke suddenly becomes hyperaware of the distance that isn't between them, the breath only just a light brush across his skin, the sweaty body all but pressed against him, and he stills, rooted to the spot, seemingly caught between Naruto precariously close and the wall he unwittingly backed himself into.

If the situation were different, if Naruto wasn't Naruto, if he were any other person so blatantly invading his personal space, it'd be a nonissue.

But Naruto is the only person he sees, the only person he can see, the source of bare threads fostering this notion weaved and too tangled within his own self-imposed doubt, this stupid, _stupid_ fear he'll never be able to see anyone else again after Naruto.

He can recognise that Naruto isn't unattractive. By any standards. If he ever had to confine himself to a single type, he couldn't say Naruto wasn't the near epitome of it.

He's only human.

And he's a guy.

Having those kinds of thoughts, even for someone as brash and impulsive as Naruto, lack of good sense aside, it's not the worst that could happen. At best, though, it's frustrating. Imagining the context of their relationship well beyond what they have now, wanting to initiate the serious kind of relationship he can't be sure isn't simply wishful thinking on his part, because he still doesn't know if there could be a place like that for him in Naruto's life.

It's a far cry from what began as a fling with Suigetsu. Despite being roommates, Suigetsu's supposed exception for him worked out to be a convenient situation. The proposition of sex with no strings attached was a good way to release the stress from those first couple of months at Tama. Yet more than a year later, even with Karin in the picture now, he's honestly surprised he and Suigetsu remain so close.

Yet he's so much closer with Naruto. Maybe even in too many senses of the word. However unconventional the nature of their friendship, it's something they just are. Whatever's between something that's just there.

Because Naruto isn't Suigetsu. And Sasuke doesn't want that kind of physicality with him for the sake of it, probably even more so since sex has been one of the few consistencies in most of his relationships, convenient or otherwise.

The idea of attempting to seek that kind of intimacy from Naruto, though, in the face of a dependence on the experience he doesn't have, this simple little yearning to build upon the familiarity already there—maybe if he just leans in a little closer, if he closes his eyes so Naruto won't seem so far away, allows himself this one moment to be reckless, maybe he really could just—

Opening his eyes, he pushes himself from the thought, drawing back from the hand that still feels warm against his skin.

"...Sasuke?"

There's a flash of something in Naruto's eyes. Beneath the needless concern yet to go away is an emotion Sasuke can't quite place, but then Naruto's smiling again, smiling like he always does, with that same easygoing look so very undeniably _Naruto_, and it's ridiculous how someone who could be almost painfully straightforward could simultaneously be so hard for him to read.

"It's nothing, Naruto."

"You sure?"

"Stop questioning me. I'm fine. It's just that new type of infection."

"New type of infection? What new type of infection? I haven't heard about this new type of infection." Eyes slightly wide, Naruto reaches to cup Sasuke's face, gently turning his head from side to side. "You do feel kind of warm still, but I'm not a doctor—do you think you need to go see a doctor? Let's take you to go see a doctor."

Sasuke pulls the hands away from his face. "No, I don't need to see a doctor. It'll be gone once I get rid of this annoying guy who keeps hanging off me."

"Look, you." Stern, or at least pretending to be, Naruto throws an arm around Sasuke's shoulders, levelling him with a hard stare. "Don't give me that kind of grumpy attitude when I'm trying to show you my concern."

"Why are you standing so close to me?"

"Tch. See if I bother to be concerned about your wellbeing next time."

"I didn't ask for your concern this time."

Naruto grins. "Lucky for you, I'm the kind of friend who'd make sure you'd never have to."

The carefree admission leaves him feeling oddly subdued, and Sasuke sighs, wondering why he even lets Naruto continue to affect him to such an extent. Lifting the arm from around his shoulders, he slips out from underneath Naruto's hold, retreating to the grey beanbag chair only a few steps away.

He makes himself at home. Soft, he breathes in, breathes out as his body begins to relax, long limbs monopolising the overgrown pillow that provides more than ample room for two people. The majority of his body nearly devoured by the lush foam padding, he peers up to see Naruto staring down at him.

"...you comfortable enough down there?"

Shifting a little, Sasuke gives a low murmur. "Didn't stretch today."

Naruto snorts. "I can tell." He pulls on the lobe of his left ear, careful to avoid tugging on the small onyx hooped earring he bought last week. "Think you're actually going to offer to share with me this time? Or do I have to make you scoot over again?"

"Haven't decided yet."

"The fact you keep throwing yourself on the comfy chair so much, I'm starting to think you're taking advantage of my very generous generosity."

"Is this your way of telling me to move?"

"See, here's the part where I want to say yes, since I really should kick you off like I do everybody else, but then I know you'd probably find some way to spite me if I did, because you're a vengeful bastard who holds grudges longer than any normal person would ever consider healthy."

"I don't hold grudges. I just have a highly selective memory," Sasuke says, completely unmoved by the look of utter disbelief on Naruto's face. "Hurry up and go change so we can start. You're not sitting by me like that."

"...I will never understand what kind of sense you think it makes for you to tell me how I can and can't sit on my own furniture. In my own apartment." Naruto plops himself on the tatami mat floor, side resting against the chair. He rubs the back of his head, extending his legs in front of him and wiggling his toes. "What're we supposed to be watching?"

Sitting up, Sasuke reaches for the sack pack placed on the other side of the chair. He folds his legs, dropping the thin bag in his lap.

"Hey, I've been looking for that. I was getting ready to buy another one tomorrow, too. All this time you had my bag and you didn't tell me?"

Loosening the drawstrings, Sasuke opens the bag, a hand inside blindly searching for the drama he brought. "You left it in my closet. It's been sitting there taking up too much space for the past week."

"Figures that's the kind of response I'd get from you," Naruto grumbles. Moving closer, he leans over the chair, forearm lying above Sasuke's shoulder. "You could have least told me where it was."

The DVD box-set he pulls out of the bag, Sasuke hands it to Naruto then places the sack back on the floor. "Here. We're watching this."

Glancing at the cover, Naruto doesn't hide his scepticism. He takes a quick look at the front then flips it over to the back. "Iris?"

"It's the first part."

"...this almost sounds like some kind of romance drama." Naruto slowly turns towards Sasuke, eyebrows threatening to disappear into his hairline. "Don't tell me it's some kind of romance drama."

Sasuke rests his cheek against the palm of his hand, head supported by his elbow propped up on the chair. "Would it matter if it was?"

"N-not that I'm saying it would. Because it wouldn't. I'd still do it. Watch it with you, I mean, but that type of thing, I don't really care for it. And really, even if I did, it's not like—"

Suddenly tight-lipped, Naruto frowns in thought, eyes focused on the fading koi emblem on Sasuke's dark blue shirt. There's a brief pause, no longer than a second or two before he takes in a breath, releasing a deep exhale and lowering his arm to place the DVD on the floor.

"...it's not like what, Naruto?"

Shaking his head, Naruto laughs, his smile somewhat over the top, waving a hand in front of Sasuke to brush off his concern. "Nothing, nothing. Uh, just something Kiba said to me earlier. Doesn't matter now."

"What'd he say?"

"Ah, nothing important that you'd care about. He was just being a smartass. Just being Kiba, you know. But, uh—Iris. Iris. You did say this wasn't a romance drama, right?"

"...this coming from the guy who almost cried when we finished My Lovely Samsoon."

"For the record, before you go around spreading untruths that aren't necessarily untrue," Naruto says, finger prodding at Sasuke's shoulder, "you need to stop letting Karin tell you what to watch. Because you just end up making me watch it with you. Not to mention, I thought we agreed not to bring that up ever again."

"I didn't agree to anything. I wasn't the one who kept flying off the handle at the screen because of that Hyun guy."

"That's because you're the kind of person who could probably relate to him," Naruto mutters.

"If telling yourself that makes you feel better."

"...anyway, you plan on staying over tonight? Since, you know," Naruto says, moving just a little closer, wearing the most annoying self-satisfied grin so exceedingly pleased, "you're the one who keeps falling asleep on me every time we do this."

He doesn't fall asleep on Naruto every time, but he does it often enough that there's not really much he can say in his defence anymore, so Sasuke opts for a glare. Needless to say, the effect's been lost on Naruto for the longest time, if glaring ever had any effect on him. "Falling asleep on you doesn't actually have anything to do with you."

"Sure, sure. Although it's still pretty surprising you find me so comfortable."

The heel of his palm pressed against Naruto's forehead, Sasuke grunts, pushing him away. "You aren't. It's your chair. Not you."

"Heh." Naruto wipes the pad of his thumb along the corner of his mouth. "How much you want to bet it is me?"

"If that's the case, you may as well give me your wallet."

"Oh, come on. Not even if we were the only two people in the world?"

"I'd rather sleep on Kiba's floor."

With a squawk, Naruto bolts upright, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Nothing short of dumbstruck.

"You better take that back, Sasuke—there're too many things wrong with everything about that sentence, and you know it. Shikamaru would never allow me to let our place look anything like Kiba's." A little flustered, Naruto shakes his head, arm held out flailing in front of him. "Hell, _I_ wouldn't allow me to let our place look like that. Me, Sasuke," he says, further emphasising his point with a hand delivering three quick pats to his chest. "_Me_."

"You really aren't that much better."

"Don't say that," Naruto hisses. "Especially when you know how risky it is to stay at Kiba's apartment for long periods of time, comparing me to a guy who's thoughtless enough to put his own roommate on the endangered species list, that's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"No."

"There are living things growing in that place, Sasuke. All sorts of creepy crawly living things growing in the very folds of his never washed and always used futon."

Sasuke flicks Naruto's arm. "You shouldn't embellish so much."

"Okay then, since you won't listen to one of the few people who escaped from Kiba's apartment and actually lived to tell the tale, when's the last time you even went over there, huh?"

"Yesterday."

"You went to Kiba's place yesterday?"

"Saw Shino there, too. It looked liveable to me."

"You came all the way over here yesterday, and you couldn't even bother to see me?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the absolutely pitiable look of dejection on Naruto's face. "Kiba called me, asking to borrow a book for class, so I offered to drop it off, since I was already getting ready to leave to meet you in Green Hall."

"Oh, yeah. That is right, isn't it. We did do dinner there last night." Rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb, Naruto gives a slow nod. "But still, of all people, you let Kiba borrow your books? You don't even let me borrow your books."

"You never asked me to borrow my books."

"And if I asked you now?"

"I'll say you're being too needy."

"But didn't you just—"

"Someone as irresponsible as you should learn to buy your own books."

"What the—"

Sasuke lets out a soft laugh, pushing loose strands of hair behind his ear. He rests his cheek against one arm folded on top of the other, lips pressed together to curb the small traces of a lingering smile. "Are we still watching Iris?"

"Yeah." Naruto perks, reaching to his left to pick up the DVD. "Yeah, all that stuff about black ops and espionage, it sounds good. Really good. Definitely want to see how it goes." He holds up the DVD, with a quick flick of his wrist pointing it at Sasuke. "I can even overlook the fact you never let me watch these things in the one language I actually understand."

"Then put it in. Having to wait on you like this every time I come over, it's turning into a bad habit."

"It's not like you couldn't have done this yourself already," Naruto mumbles, grunts as he begins to stand and head for the TV still showing QVC.

"Either way, you still wouldn't be ready."

"But you'll wait for me, though, right?" Naruto places the first disc in the tray, closing the box-set and laying it on top of the DVD player. "When I take too long, even though I don't mean to, you'll still stay, won't you?"

With a sigh, Sasuke tears his gaze from Naruto's back, looking up to the nondescript light fixture hanging from a plain white ceiling. "After going through the hassle of coming all the way out here..."

Naruto turns to face Sasuke, chuckles low as he pulls down the waistband of his pants he begins to step out of, exposing knee-length shorts. "Just bear with me for a little while longer, okay."

"How much longer?" Sasuke wrinkles his nose. "The smell's starting to permeate."

Pants bundled under one arm, wry, Naruto just stares at him. "Look. I've been training with Kiba for who knows how long today, busting my ass trying to get ready for this marathon since I didn't get a chance to do the one last year. So yeah. I've been sweaty all day. And I just might smell a little. What else do you expect?"

"It's not a little."

Naruto snorts, raising his free arm above his head. "Can't be that bad if you didn't say anything be—" Hunched forward, his features distort in exaggerated horror as he starts to cough, expression continuing to sour with a stream of gagging noises. "Okay, seriously, you should have said something about this before."

"You shouldn't have made me wait this long."

"Che. And you call me impatient. It'll take me what—five minutes tops? Give a guy some time, would you?" Naruto gathers his pants in one hand and chucks across the other side of the room.

Following the flight of the pants, Sasuke watches them land on top of the small mound of clothes piled beneath the large poster of Plastic Tree. He looks back to Naruto, lips pursed at the too wide smile Naruto's unable to hold back. "No."

"What?" Naruto yields with both hands raised in front of him in a placating gesture. "I didn't even say anything."

"You don't say anything about the clothes that mysteriously appear in my hamper, either."

"Yeah, those." Naruto's eyes dart to the TV, finger scratching the side of his head. "There's just something about the way you wash my clothes."

"You're too lazy to wash them yourself, you mean."

"Sure." Naruto shrugs, breaking into another smile. "That might be it, too."

Sasuke snorts.

"But you do know that pile's only there because Shikamaru'll be gone for the weekend, right?"

"For his sake, I'm almost tempted to bag your clothes and throw them out with the trash."

Naruto sniffs. "Why am I suddenly getting the feeling you like him more than me?"

"Because I appreciate being able to hold conversations that don't threaten to lower my intelligence."

Naruto's mouth opens then snaps closed. He pauses, frowning at the floor before looking back to Sasuke. "Now that's just downright mean."

"As mean as you are for keeping me waiting. Hurry up before I start without you. I should have watched it with Suigetsu when I had the chance."

"It really wouldn't kill you to stop being so pushy, you know."

Extending his leg, with his foot, Sasuke nudges Naruto's ankle.

"All right, all right, I'm going already—I'm going. Sheesh. Pushy _and_ touchy..."

As Naruto turns to walk away, yelping when he nearly trips on the water bottle he leaves right there on the floor, Sasuke leans back into the chair. He heaves a sigh, closes his eyes, listening to the heavy treading of Naruto's feet beginning to fade into the sounds from the TV a little higher than before. Stretching his arms above him, he lets them lie lax against the cushion, elbows turned out from either side of his head, in one hand three fingers from the other held in a loose hold.

It isn't long, however, before the empty calm is interrupted, and he releases a quiet moan, brought out of quasi-meditation by the light thump a heap of soft material dumped on top of him.

One eye opened, he peers up to see Naruto standing above him, opening both eyes when he looks down to see a familiar fleece blanket still folded lying on his chest.

Tilting his head back to look at Naruto, he blinks. "...thanks."

Naruto snorts. "Guess it really is the comfy chair." A hand grips the edge of the white towel draped around his neck, one side lifted to dry the back of his hair. "Did I take too long?"

"Don't know." Slowly, Sasuke rolls up from his spine, the blanket falling to his lap as he shifts to make himself more comfortable. "Knowing you, though, probably."

"I'm clean. Shouldn't that be enough for you?" Skin still a little flushed, Naruto pulls off the towel and throws it over the back of the armless orange swivel chair pushed beneath the modest desk sat against the wall. Fingers toy with the hem of a yellow t-shirt, fiddling with the waistband of grey sweats, loosening the portion of the t-shirt tucked into his pants. Halfway across the room, he pauses, standing outside the small kitchen area. "Oh, hey, you want anything?"

"If you want something." Sasuke shrugs. "I'll share with you."

"Not that you couldn't have gotten up to do this yourself," Naruto says, "but I think there's still some beer left. If Kiba didn't drink it all again." He bends down, opening the door to the fridge. "There're some rice crackers, in here, too. The ones with the seaweed and black sesame seeds, I picked up a couple bags yesterday, since I know you like them cold sometimes."

Closing the fridge with his foot, he stands up, juggling a bag of rice crackers and two cans of beer held against his chest, struggling with his elbow to switch off the light.

"And this really good mint chip ice cream. They were giving out free samples at the convenience store with that seriously crabby old guy who always hangs around there, you know, the one by the Krispy Kreme—these two really cute girls were being really nice to me, and they gave me more than one sample, so I felt like I had to buy more than what I usually would."

Sasuke picks up the remote and turns the volume up a little higher, then selects a different input, changing the TV from QVC to the DVD menu for Iris. "That's because you're gullible."

"Appreciating people being nice to me doesn't make me gullible." Plopping himself on the chair, with a sigh prolonged, content, Naruto settles down beside him. He places the two beers on the short table in front of them, handing Sasuke the bag of rice crackers in exchange for the fleece blanket he spreads out over them both. "It just means I appreciate people being nice to me. Which really doesn't explain why I keep you around for company."

"Apparently I'm only good for being a free weight on your back." There's a loud pop as Sasuke opens the plastic bag lined with foil. "Where'd that even come from?"

"Yeah, about that, I'm trying to develop a one-time only special weekend routine."

"For..."

A hand cards through messy hair still somewhat damp, and Naruto chuckles. He stretches his legs out in front of him, bare feet peeking from underneath the blanket. "Ah, well, me and Kiba, we sort of have this bet going on. Trying to see who can do the most one-hand push-ups in a minute."

"I thought you were training for the marathon?"

"Oh, yeah. We were doing that, too. Since classes were out today. But we ran into that Kobayashi guy I told you about last week, the grad student. Remember him, the one with the really funny eyebrows, who knows aikido like you?"

"Lee?"

"Yeah. Real nice guy as long as you don't let the bushy brows scare you off. Me and Kiba bumped into him while we were mapping out a route close to campus, so we started talking—got his number this time. Turns out Lee's going to run the marathon, too.

"We decided to help each other train, and he showed us some of his workout routine, all these really cool exercises he could do. Like push-ups with one hand. And then he did a couple standing upside down. _Handstand push-ups_. Who the hell even does those? But on top of that, he's fast. I mean, really fast."

"Considering how slow you are, anyone compared to you is fast."

"Whatever, Sasuke. Lee already did enough to make me look bad today." Naruto reaches into the bag for a handful of rice crackers varying in shape and size, popping them into his mouth one at a time. "But as soon as Lee left, Kiba turned to me and said, bet I could do a hundred of those one-hand push-ups in two minutes before you can even get to twenty in one. So, of course—you know me—I couldn't turn that down. Not when that guy thinks he can actually outrun me. And now I have till Monday to work on putting him in his place.

"Going at it for so long, though..." The light from the TV reflects the grin bright on his face as he curls his bicep, fist clenched. "I really do think it made a difference."

Sasuke swallows the food in his mouth, reaching over to push down Naruto's arm. "It's amazing how Shikamaru can stand to live in the same complex as either of you. Especially when he has to deal with both of you at the same time so often."

"Trust me. He's not as sensible as you want to believe he is."

"More sensible than you at any rate," Sasuke concedes, although maybe even more so considering Shikamaru's not the one who ends up indulging Naruto more than he probably should. "How many push-ups can you do so far?"

Naruto holds up his left hand. "Uh, on this hand, in one minute, my best count was around twenty-five." He lowers his left arm then raises the right. "And on this one, I managed to get up to thirty once. Think that's enough to give me an edge?"

"The only way I could take you any less seriously right now, is if you decided to use two fingers instead of one hand."

"Yeah, that's being real helpful, Sasuke. Like I'm going to be able to pull off that kind of crazy Bruce Lee shit by Monday." Naruto reaches over for a can of beer, flipping open the tab that releases a soft hiss. "I might ask Lee if he can do it. Tomorrow, when we meet up in the morning to run. Want to come?"

"You're that determined to make yourself look bad?"

"So you can show me up in a couple things. Rub it in a little more, why don't you." Naruto tips his head back and takes a large gulp of beer, pausing to swallow with his can held midair. "Seriously. You should come, though. We're meeting up around six, because it's supposed to start raining around ten, but we'll keep going if the weather's still good."

"That's early for you." Feet flat on the chair, legs raised brought close to his chest, Sasuke reaches for another rice cracker, readjusting the blanket covering him. "Even on a Saturday."

"I know. Eight's usually good for me, but I have that digital montage thing I have to start for Hagane's class, so I want to make sure I give myself enough time to decide what to do."

Sasuke glances at digital watch on Naruto's wrist, pressing a small button to illuminate the wide face. "It's already late. Almost nine. You sure you still want to—"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. You know I don't mind with you. But cutting into my training schedule like this..." Naruto grins, stealing the round, uneaten rice cracker from Sasuke's hand. "You can make it up to me if you say you'll be there when I cross the finish line."

"I have a reason to be?"

Naruto takes another sip of beer, licking his lips and twirling the can, swishing what's left of the liquid inside before placing the can back on the table. "You're going to make me beg for this, aren't you?"

Running a hand through his hair, Sasuke breathes in, chest rising faster than the exhale too slow to come. "The marathon's all you've been whining about lately. I know you want me to go. It's just..."

"I guess it does seem sudden to expect you to make that kind of decision for something four months away, but if you're not going to run with me, I still want you to be there."

"...why? It won't make a difference whether I go or not. You don't need me there."

"Maybe I don't _need_ you there, but I..." Naruto smiles, simple like the brash idiot he is, the kind of smile easygoing he always gives, and Sasuke feels his body curl inward, feels his body into the chair sink deeper, because he doesn't know how to push himself away. "Just knowing you'll be there, knowing I'll have seeing you to look forward to at the end, something I'd like to think would help me run a little faster, that would really mean a lot to me."

"Naruto, you..." Sasuke clutches the bag in his hand, crushing the plastic against his palm. "How can you just say something so..."

"What? You're the one too chicken to even sign up with me. It's okay, though. Going against someone like me, I'd lose my nerve, too. We both know I'd beat whatever time you got. Hands down."

Sasuke throws his head back, covering his eyes with an arm shaking from the force of a hollow laughter that makes no sound. "You dork." His chest falls with a slow exhale, wavers with a quiet inhale the hitch suppressed in his throat. He lowers his arm, fingers releasing the bag Naruto relieves from his hand. "I don't need to prove myself to a loser like you."

"I swear," Naruto says, pulling out a square rice cracker and wielding it at Sasuke, "one day, I'm actually going to get you to stop calling me names."

"I thought you didn't make promises you couldn't keep?"

"...you just really like picking on me, don't you?"

"I would." Remote in hand, Sasuke points it towards the DVD player and presses play. "If you didn't make it so easy."

"Even though you treat me so poorly, the fact that I'm still here, that I'm choosing to endure the martyr role in our friendship, _willingly_, this better be the best drama of all time."

Setting the remote aside, with a faint hum, almost resigned, Sasuke lets his head fall on Naruto's shoulder. His hand grasps at the edge of the blanket between them, fingers twisting and unfurling the soft material that suddenly makes him feel cold.

Naruto clears his throat. He closes the bag of rice crackers, folding it over the top. The rustling echoes loud in the room. It's a harsh noise, breaking the steady stream of dialogue in Korean.

Harsher still is the concern in Naruto's voice much softer that follows. "...you all right?"

Sasuke's grip on the blanket tightens. He keeps his gaze steadfast on the screen, ignoring the eyes that shouldn't be watching him instead of the TV.

"Because if you're not feeling up to it, we can always—"

"Needlessly worrying about that kind of thing, Naruto, I already told you I was fine." Unconsciously drawn closer, leaning towards the body a solid warmth beside him, Sasuke sags against Naruto, fingers curled around the blanket becoming slack as he breathes in the blend of Naruto's soap and deodorant that reminds him too strongly of sage. "...I'm fine."


	25. Not Everybody Has Got Somebody Like You

__No excuse for this nonsense. _More preslash. Dialogue-only between Naruto and Kiba. Never a good combination for me. _

...

_"The way you are around him, you might as well be. But keeping Sasuke waiting on your proposal for so long, what kind of devoted boyfriend are you?"_

...

**Not Everybody Has Got Somebody Like You**

"But I thought he already knew. The way you fall over yourself whenever you're around him, how can he _not_ know?"

"Because he doesn't."

"You're seriously saying Sasuke still doesn't know."

"Of course he still doesn't know."

"You haven't told him yet?"

"Of course I haven't told him yet."

"What do you mean you've haven't told him yet?"

"Exactly what I said. I haven't told him yet.

"Why haven't you told him yet?"

"Tell Sasuke that I like him?"

"No, I'm wondering when you're going to tell him how nice his handwriting is—of course I'm asking what's taking you so long to confess. You're moving to Narita with him in a couple months. What're you waiting on? Christmas Eve?"

"...maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Confessing that kind of thing to Sasuke, I can't just do that."

"Why not?"

"Because, Kiba. He's Sasuke."

"Never figured you for the type to make excuses."

"I'm not making excuses. It's just he's so...so _Sasuke_. He can get so squeamish when it comes to people trying to get close to him. Half the time I don't know if he's going to end up pushing me away or not.

"But then those times he doesn't say anything about me being too close, or he'll lean on me, when he makes these really cute little expressions he tries not to let me see but I end up seeing, anyway. And the way he looks at me sometimes, that's when I start to think I really could spend the rest of my life waking up to someone who looked at me like he does."

"...you got it bad, man. Real bad. Because that's some seriously sappy shit."

"I know, I know, but Sasuke's just so—even though he likes to tease me a lot, it's really easy to talk to him, because he listens to me. And he does all these really nice things for me. He really does take care of me. In his own little, um...Sasuke way, I guess, whenever he's not giving me one of those blank looks that make me feel like I just broke his shaman stick all over again. You know, the one where it's like he's mentally questioning your intelligence."

"I didn't know there were times he didn't question your intelligence."

"But it's all worth it when he gives me these really cute little smiles. And he has this really cute little laugh I always try to get him to make. And I, uh, I..."

"Scratch bad. Bad doesn't even begin to cover it. You're so far gone it's not even funny."

"...tell me about it."

"I already told you to tell him."

"And say what? Hey, Sasuke, want to go out with me and maybe even ruin this really good thing we already have? Yeah, right. What if he doesn't even like guys?"

"But he likes you. And you didn't like guys before him. And not having liked guys before hasn't stopped you from liking him. What's the worst he could say?"

"A lot of things worse than no."

"As comfortable as he seems with you, I somehow doubt it. I mean, he falls asleep on you all the time, Naruto. All the time. How much you want to bet he'd do that with any other guy?"

"Yeah, I know that, but—"

"No, no, no, there is no but in this situation. You cuddle with him, Naruto. _Cuddle_. And believe you me, I've walked in on some serious cuddle sessions with the two of you on that comfy chair he's the only person you let sit on. The same comfy chair you're sitting on while I'm beating your sorry ass score."

"You wish you could beat my high score."

"From now on, every time you turn on your TV, you'll remember why you'll never measure up to my awesome skills at Black Ops and everything else that is awesome about me."

"Why do I keep letting you come over here?"

"Because you need someone to half-heartedly listen to you whine about how much progress you're not making with Sasuke."

"Don't remind me."

"And it was my turn to pick the short straw. Since Shikamaru ran out on me before I could escape."

"Some friends you guys are."

"If you're feeling lonely, you could always invite Sasuke over. Then I could play my game on your TV in peace. Because you'd be too distracted making googly eyes at him to continue interfering with my attempt to beat your high score."

"You can leave any time you want, you know. No one's forcing you to stay."

"And it's not like he even needs a reason to come over. Four times out of ten, if he's not at his place, or somewhere on campus, there's a pretty good chance he's at yours. And as many times as I hang out over here—"

"Too many times."

"—that's an accomplishment right there. Now imagine if you didn't have a roommate. Not having to worry about Shikamaru walking in unexpected, then you'd really—"

"Not the kind of thing I really need to think about right now, Kiba."

"It's practically like Sasuke lives with you, anyway. You even bought two more of those blue cube thingies just so he could have somewhere to keep his paint stuff. I don't see what the big deal is about not telling him when you do that sort of thing for him, but if that isn't part of dating, I don't know what is."

"It's nothing. I'm just—"

"Subconsciously wanting to go after Sasuke in the hopes it might turn into the kind of relationship where, and I loosely quote, you'll be able to spend the rest of your life waking up to someone who looks at you like he does."

"...that was oddly, um, specific of you, but no. We're not...dating."

"Course not. His stuff's at your place. Your stuff's at his place. And you just happen to share everything but the kitchen sink. Sure you aren't married, too?"

"Who said anything about marriage? I thought you were playing Call of Duty? When'd you learn to do two things at once?"

"Just saying. Wouldn't be surprised if you were married, really. The way you are around him, you might as well be. But keeping Sasuke waiting on your proposal for so long, what kind of devoted boyfriend are you?"

"See this pen in my hand, Kiba? Do you see this pen?"

"Hold on. Give me a second to get past this trench. I'm almost at sixty kills."

"...I am so going to end you."

"Before or after you decide to confess to Sasuke? Because you might just be better off banking on natural causes rather than your own lacking conviction."

"You're real funny, you know that. So funny you should take your stand-up on a one-man tour. Away from me."

"But you're my partner. And in our two-man comedy act, where would the straight man be without a funny man to hit with a fan? It'd be very awkward trying to berate you when you're not there."

"...I really hate you right now."

"For what? Accusing you of dating Sasuke? Or not being man enough to confess to him."

"Between you and Shikamaru..."

"Because it's still sad. Very, very sad. Even a little annoying at this stage, watching you pine after Sasuke. Even Shino's said a thing or two about it. And he doesn't know you guys that well."

"As much as I appreciate your confidence in me, is there going to be a point to any of this?"

"Who knows why you like Sasuke. Whatever reason, it still stands that you do. We get that. What we're calling you out on is the fact that you're so obviously head over heels with this guy but then all you'll do is complain without doing anything about it. Like actually confessing to him."

"You make it sound like I can just go up and confess."

"You can."

"I want to. I really do. But what if I'm making this huge mistake and end up messing everything up?"

"You can't."

"Don't you mean won't?"

"No, in this kind of situation, I really don't think you can mess up. How much time you spend with him, the kinds of things you do together, that isn't what most people consider normal for two guys. And I'm talking full out doing the stuff couples are expected to do together. He even asked you to share a place with him. You are going to share a place with him. The only thing you _don't_ do is put Tab A in Slot B."

"Is everything about sex with you?"

"When isn't everything about sex with me?"

"Point taken."

"Just ask him out, Naruto. Confessing to somebody already that close to you, I don't see what's so hard about it."

"I don't even know how to ask another guy out."

"Same way you'd ask a girl out. I guess. Except not."

"What kind of advice is that even supposed to be?"

"Although maybe it might be easier, since you probably wouldn't have to worry about buying Sasuke the kinds of things you'd normally get for a girl you're asking out."

"Seriously. What good are you to me?"

"Here. Let me break it down for you. Word of the wise from a ladies' man who has a wealth of dating experi—hey, don't you give me that look."

"You? Staying with one girl for more than a week?"

"My record is two weeks, thank you very much. But anyway. All you have to do is say, Sasuke, will you go out with me? Because I like you. I really like you. So the next time we end up doing that weird thing we always do where we fall asleep on each other, in order to show you how much I like you, I'd really appreciate it if you let have me the chance to just really give it to—_ow_, why'd you hit me? That hurt, damn it."

"Making those kinds of gestures, don't talk about Sasuke that way. And what's up with that kind of lewd face?"

"So you do think about him that way."

"You piece of shit, that's not the point."

"But that is what you want to do, right? Get him on his bac—"

"S-shut up, you asshole!"

"Oh, man. Y-your face. The look on your—can't...b-breathe."

"Good. You shouldn't be talking anymore. You shouldn't be laughing, either."

"O-or maybe you want him to be the one to bend you—o-oi, oi, quit it—quit it, stop attacking me for no good reason. Son of a—I can't see the TV. You're going to make me shoot the wrong—stop hitting me so—oh god, my eye—_my_ _one good_ _seeing_ _eye_!"

"Please, Kiba. The pillow didn't even touch your face. And even if it did take your eye out, that's why you were born with two. Learn to see through the other one."

"You're lucky I paused this before you jumped me. Because I seriously would have kicked the crap out of you if you messed up my Deathmatch."

"Tch. I'm going to kick the crap out of you if you talk about Sasuke that way again."

"Here's me trying to be helpful and this is the thanks I get?"

"If that's what you call being helpful."

"Like I said. You got it real bad. It's almost starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I can't be expected to play to the best of my awesome ability under these poor conditions."

"...you know, for someone who's not even into guys, you're putting an awful lot of thought into this."

"Yeah, the things I do for you, right. Being the faithful friend. Offering to shoulder this very unnecessary burden you could've sorted out a long time ago. Don't forget Sasuke's my friend, too, though. And I really think he likes you. Not that I'd ever ask him about that kind of thing, but if finally confessing to him will make you stop looking so pitiful..."

"...that's actually really kind of sappy."

"This conversation stays between us, you understand. I have a very important bad boy image to maintain. It took me too long to build my reputation on campus. And if word about this ever gets out..."

"Okay. Sure. Whatever you say, Kiba."

"Hehe, you know I'm just messing with you, right? About this whole Sasuke business."

"Yeah, I know. Even if you're being a real pain in the ass while doing it. Still, I guess it probably gets annoying, me coming to you so much, putting up with me talking about Sasuke all the time, so thanks for bothering with me, you know?"

"Eh, I don't need your thanks for that. Just think about what I said, all right."

"...you really think I stand a chance?"

"The way he treats you, he doesn't act like that around anyone else. Seriously. He lets you get away with sneaking your clothes in his laundry, Naruto. He'll wash your clothes with his _laundry_. What other way is there to take that?"

"It's not like you don't leave your crap over here all the time."

"Yeah, but I don't spend the night over here just to snuggle next to you on the comfy chair."

"...please, Kiba. _Please_. Putting that kind of image in my head—"

"Bad image, you're right. Sorry, I was just—"

"No. Just no."

"Yeah, that did sound kind of really, really bad—no way in hell I'd ever be caught dead snuggling up with your ugly mug. Sasuke on the other hand, though, maybe there's something I've been missing all this time, since you're so—"

"Is there eventually going to be a point when you run out of things to say for the sake of annoying me?"

"I don't know, Naruto. I'm actually thinking about calling Sasuke right now."

"You better not."

"Try me."

"Pulling out your phone doesn't mean you're going to call him."

"Maybe it should. Maybe I should tell him how his nice handwriting makes me feel."

"Shut it, Kiba. You know that was a long time ago. It doesn't even mean the same thing anymore."

"Throwing a pen at me doesn't make the fact you want to hold Sasuke in your arms and make kissy faces at him all day any less true."

"..."

"You missed, by the way."

"...you're such an ass."


	26. Don't Know Much About the French I Took

_The last three of these take place around the same time period, a couple months before Sasuke and Naruto move in together during Notion (ch.4). I guess there's a running joke in them both being too stubborn to make the first move, despite the fact their relationship is painfully obvious to the people around them. This one happens the night before Morning (ch.18), and features Suigetsu, who has a sort of history with Sasuke but still gets a kick out of how silly Sasuke and Naruto's situation actually is._

_**Guest:** Lol, I would if I could. Hopefully will be able to drop this after finishing some other stuff. Thanks, though. Very sweet of you to offer. ^^_

_**Guest:** Thanks for reading. ^^;;_

...

_"Sasuke's going to kill you for walking around here like that, you know."_

...

**Don't Know Much About the French I Took**

He barely had time for a detour, his fault for snatching the wrong jacket this morning during his rush to get to class, in effect leaving behind his ID he needed now, but there's still enough time to slip in and slip out of the apartment without bothering Sasuke, who was probably still studying, and then pick up the 9:17 train heading to Shibuya to meet Karin at Womb before ten.

His carabineer's already out by the time he reaches the door, the attached cutesy purple character keychain a gag gift from Karin chiming with his keys, a mini flash drive, and a maroon penknife. Two seconds later he's through the door, not bothering to take off his shoes, willing to risk Sasuke and his neurotic self chewing him out for it later.

Making a beeline for the desk, murmuring a quick _hi_ to Sasuke and Naruto lounging near the TV, he grabs the dark blue jacket carelessly thrown over the desk, searching inside the outside pocket for his ID. Stuffing the ID in the side pocket of his jeans, he tosses the jacket back over the desk, a hasty _bye_ on the tip of the tongue before he pauses, consciously taking notice of Sasuke and Naruto sharing the extra large futon from the closet, backs cushioned by two pillows acting as a barrier between them and the wall.

Flustered, Naruto starts at the sudden attention on him. No longer holding an apparently sleeping Sasuke, his arm lies instead restless across his lap. Shoulders somewhat tense, he looks up with a nervous laugh, attempting to offset the sudden, almost awkward atmosphere, eyes large and grin too keen. "Suigetsu, hey..."

"Hey, yourself." Suigetsu looks between Naruto and the TV playing some outdated documentary about China, with another glance at Sasuke. "Looks like fun."

"Too much for him to handle." Naruto snorts. "Thought you were going out tonight. What's up?"

"Not planning on staying long. Just came back to get my ID." Three times Suigetsu pats his side pocket.

"Oh. Okay." The tension in Naruto's shoulders gradually begins to ease, just about gone following a prolonged exhale. Adjusting the comforter covering his legs, he gestures to the white shoes Suigetsu hasn't taken off, offering a more genuine smile. "Sasuke's going to kill you for walking around here like that, you know."

"Always empty threats with that guy," Suigetsu says, returning the smile with a vaguely amused one of his own. "I'll chance it."

Curious, or maybe just nosy, he narrows his eyes at Sasuke leaning against Naruto. Long strides bring him closer, and he crouches down beside them, steady on the balls of his feet, elbows resting over his legs. "He really is out, isn't he?"

"Yeah." There's a low chuckle from Naruto. It's a mellow sounding laughter, laced with a noticeable warmth found in his gaze that strays with a fleeting glance at Sasuke. "He's been running all over the place since last week. Getting a head start preparing for finals. Forcing me to work a little harder, too. Nothing unexpected, I guess, but..."

Suigetsu nods with a faint hum, leaning in a little closer to study Sasuke, watching the subtle movement of characteristically sharp features surprisingly open, Sasuke's breathing light, nearly inaudible through his mouth ajar.

"Funny how a guy like him can look like this," he murmurs, hand motioning a slow arc in front of Sasuke's face. "Not so tempting to annoy when he's—"

"Do me a favour, Suigetsu."

Suigetsu acknowledges Naruto with a distracted murmur. He continues to stare at Sasuke, again waving his hand.

With a low moan, Sasuke starts to shift, lifting his head drooped over his shoulder. His mouth closes while his knee rises, left leg brought closer to his body, arms hidden beneath the comforter pulled up to his chest as he slouches forward, turning towards Naruto. The slight parting of his lips releases a heavy sigh, and he breathes in softly, completely relaxed at Naruto's side.

In the brief moment it takes to realise Sasuke's still asleep, the lagging stillness draws attention to the drone from the TV, the voice of the narrator fading into the tranquil lull of instrumental music.

"...don't do that again, all right."

Arm lowered, Suigetsu looks up to meet blue eyes, eyebrows raised in question. "Do what, Blondie?"

"What you were doing. Just...just don't, okay." To accommodate Sasuke's weight, Naruto settles into a more comfortable position, left arm slipping beneath the comforter. He lets out a soft grunt, a second or two spared to glance down before he looks back up, wearing an acute sort of half-smile. "It wouldn't be fair for Sasuke to wake up when he doesn't have to."

Suigetsu gives him an odd look, matching the outwardly simple gaze with an intent stare.

The words seem earnest, the appeal reasonable enough, yet there's a certain scrutiny underlying the resolve, measured in Naruto's careful tone, and the irony of the situation causes Suigetsu to grin.

"Never intended to. As if I'd risk him catching me wearing shoes inside here." With a light-hearted scoff, hands pushing down on his legs, he stands, heading towards the entryway. Going against a practice so fundamentally ingrained, he'd probably feel worse if his shoes weren't brand new. "I ever mention how much of an interesting guy you really are? Especially around Sasuke."

"Heh. Coming from you, I don't think it's safe to take that as a compliment."

Suigetsu's laugh carries with him, lingers in the slight curve of his mouth as he opens the door. Two steps away from the hall, fingers grasped around the knob, abrupt, he turns around. "My roommate tell you I finally asked Karin out?"

"No," Naruto says, the surprise in his eyes quickly replaced by a teasing glint, "but it took you long enough. Me and Sasuke didn't know what you were waiting for." He reaches over his lap to pick up a nearly empty plastic bottle lying on the floor and places it upright on the table beside him, careful not to jostle Sasuke's head resting against his shoulder. "So what'd she say?"

Suigetsu steps out of the apartment, grinning at Naruto through the diminishing gap between the threshold and the door. "Tell Sasuke I'll see him Sunday, yeah?" Not waiting for a response, he closes the door behind him. He locks it with a turn of his key then pulls out his phone, shoulders shaking with a laughter unrestrained that echoes all the way down the hall.


	27. Only Gets Better With Time

_"Well, yeah. Even without the face, it's still supposed to remind you of a panda. Mr. Panda."_

...

**Only Gets Better With Time**

"...what'd I do this time?"

"I didn't say you did anything."

"No, Sasuke. I know _that look_. It's the same one you give me when you won't admit that I did something you can't say you don't like, so I know I did something. Not that I know what that something I did is, but I do know I didn't _not_ do something, especially when—why are you still looking at me like that?"

"The same reason you're still backing away from me."

"Because it looks like you're going to inflict some kind of pain on me. And not the good kind of pain that leads to the really good kinds of things we both like doing, either. I'm talking the really—"

"Make it easier on yourself and stop moving."

"Always so rough with me," Naruto grumbles, left to squirm with one last step bringing his back against the wall. "Would it really hurt you to be a little gentle for once?"

"If you didn't whine so much then maybe I'd actually start to care."

"You're messing it up now. Nothing was wrong with it. Stop trying to—it's fine the way it is."

"It's crooked."

"That was my _ear_, you goddamn anal retentive bast—the hell was that for, you asshole—pull a little harder next time, why don't y—"

"I'm going to pull these tassels around your neck if you don't hold still. You're the one who keeps moving. I barely even touched you."

With a last ditch effort to escape immediately made futile by an impatient gaze, Naruto exaggerates a sigh, resigned to his fate at Sasuke's cruel and unsympathetic touch. "...it's just a hat," he mumbles.

"A stupid character hat you're too old to be wearing."

"Since when does being twenty make me an old man like you?"

"You'll be twenty-one next month."

"But Mr. Panda's cute."

And really, it is. Nowhere near as bad as Sasuke's trying to make it out to be, although he knows it's more or less Sasuke not being able to admit liking the hat.

Something he bought on impulse, which can only be blamed on the fact winter decided to show up two months too early this year, it's a simple knit cap, mostly white but trimmed black around the edges, with small black ears sitting on top and two braided tassels each a cord black intertwining white along large ear flaps that keep him comfortably warm. As flashy as his style tends to be, all in all, considering the distinct lack of eyes and nose that would've really made it look like a panda made itself at home on his head, for someone like him, the hat's pretty darn subtle.

Besides, he's seen guy idols wear more cutesy stuff than this all the time. Guys older than him, too. Especially those Korean idols from the music Sasuke sometimes listens to. Girls like to go crazy over guys wearing that kind of stuff, so it's not like he's the only one who does it. And he can't say he minds the extra attention wearing the hat gets him sometimes.

Any excuse to justify his need to stand out, Sasuke would probably say, which he can't exactly deny, because, yeah, okay, maybe it's nice to be noticed every now and then, especially when it's Sasuke doing the noticing—except the time they ran into Karin and Suigetsu last week, when Karin almost knocked him over with an unexpected attack hug, then called him something in Korean that just made Suigetsu say something else Naruto didn't understand, not even trying to hide how hilarious he thought the whole thing was, since apparently that's the only sensible way to react after seeing your girlfriend hanging off another guy's arm (not that Suigetsu's ever been that sensible in the first place, anyway).

But he really can do without going through that again.

Even weirder still, was when she forced her pink and white knit hat on a bored looking Sasuke, who's actually used to her behaviour, claiming she didn't want his ears to get cold, then rambling off about spoonfeeding, the importance of a hundred percent synchronisation, chocolate abs, and some other strange shit—whatever she said, like he never fails to tell Sasuke, he chalked it all up to Karin and Suigetsu just being plain weird.

"You actually named that thing," Sasuke says, lowering his hands and taking a step back to inspect his attempt to make Naruto look somewhat casual presentable, which they both know is way beyond a lost cause at this point.

The sigh that follows is kind of inevitable, too. Less out of exasperation and more of a faint hum by now, when Sasuke gives him one of these soft looks, one of those fond expressions hidden beneath the smile that doesn't reach his lips yet somehow still so wholly apparent in his eyes, and Naruto can't shake this sort of mad crazy hypnotic feeling that makes it seem impossible to pull himself away.

"Well, yeah. Even without the face, it's still supposed to remind you of a panda. Mr. Panda."

"It's a hat."

"If you're jealous, I'll buy one for you, too. Maybe a Rilakkuma one? Or even a Korilakkuma one. You could pull that off. A Kiiroritori one would probably be better, though. That seems like it'd suit you more. Yeah, with that unfortunate thing you call a hairstyle going on in the back, definitely Kiirori—"

"Naruto."

"Oh, come on." A low noise building from his chest rising in the back of his throat, Naruto doesn't fight the laughter that spills over at Sasuke's annoyed stare. "You can't tell me you don't think it's cute."

"I don't think it's cute."

"Whatever you say, Sasuke, but you know you like Mr. Panda. See?" Smile wide, Naruto pulls on both ear flaps, slight motions shifting the hat from side to side. "Who wouldn't want to kiss the face of the guy wearing a hat this cute?"

"I'd rather squish it."

Gloved fingers reach to pull the knit cap over Naruto's face, intercepted by the hand that grabs Sasuke's wrist instead. Unfazed by the sharp movement, Sasuke allows his body to be carried forward with the momentum, all but held against Naruto.

A knowing grin fills in the beginnings of a leer. "...you really don't like my hat?"

Free hand raised, tassel caught with his finger and thumb, Sasuke watches him from beneath lowered eyelids that don't fully close.

In small circles the tassel begins to coil, rubbed between his fingers meticulously slow chasing along the corded length. He pauses when his fingers slide over the knot, hand curling around the loose fringe at the tail end he then gives a light tug.

There's a slight upturn of his chin, the reveal of a sly glint in dark eyes luring Naruto further in. Gradually, the hold on Sasuke's wrist becomes lax, turns slack with an offer of a not quite kiss, the whisper of _I don't_ a shallow breath barely a tingle brushed on Naruto's lips.

Then just like that, Sasuke decides to pull away.

Looking far too pleased for his own good, he drops the tassel from his hand, letting it fall against Naruto's chest. He turns on his heel, carrying with him this look, one last glance at Naruto this very specific brand of understated haughty smug that's just so, _so_ unbelievably him.

With a low chuckle, Naruto breaks out into a slow grin, thumb wiping at the corner of his mouth. "You're still taking me to that ramen place you found, right?"

"If you still want to go," Sasuke says, snagging the keys from the kitchen counter and putting them in the side pocket of his fitted pea coat. "But I'm not paying for you if you plan on taking all day."

"Like I'd ever jeopardise the chance to get free ramen from you." Letting out a light snort, Naruto goes after Sasuke, catching up with him at the entryway. He pats his back pocket once, then two more times. "Hey, you got my wal—"

"Mm." Sasuke lowers his head, looking down near the top of his coat to fasten a large grey button that'd come undone, fingers then moving up to carefully adjust the broad, folded flaps. Eyes slightly narrowed, wearing an almost thoughtful frown, with both hands, he reaches behind his neck to straighten the wide collar, looking up to meet Naruto's steady gaze, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "What?"

"Didn't think it was that cold outside," Naruto says, stuffing his feet into bright red sneakers already tied while Sasuke opens the door leading to the outside balcony. "It's only September and you already look so bundled up."

"Not everyone has your abnormal body heat."

"Maybe, but..." Following Sasuke through the doorway, stopped beside him, Naruto leans a little closer, raising a hand to push away the longer strands of dark hair visible beneath an off-white knit hat. "There."

Sasuke blinks, gaze expectant paired with another near frown.

"It was covering your eyes."

"That make the front of my hair an unfortunate style, too?"

"Only when it doesn't let me see you."

Taking the keys out of his pocket, Sasuke locks the door, ducking his head turned to the side but unable to hide this shy little embarrassed smile that puts the stupidest, most hopelessly idiotic look on Naruto's face.

"Out of all the things you could've come up with, out of all things you _have_ come up with, I'm really starting to think you're losing your touch, Sasuke."

"You're so full of shit."

An arm around Sasuke keeps him from walking away, holds him close, and Naruto grins, forehead resting against Sasuke's, fingers sneaking beneath Sasuke's collar, flittering across the back of his neck and pressing gently into skin. "I seriously can't believe me saying that kind of thing still gets to you."

"Because it's awful. And you're an idiot for trying to get away with it."

"But that's thing, isn't it," Naruto murmurs, head bowed, mouth a light pressure trailing alongside Sasuke's jaw. His other hand on Sasuke's hip slides underneath the grey coat, reaching to lift the hem of Sasuke's shirt gathered in his palm. "...you do let me get away with it."

"Try again." Slipping out from the arms around him, Sasuke snorts, this time not trying to hide the small traces of a smile. He heads towards the stairs on the other side of the balcony, readjusting the back of his collar and the front folds of his coat. "You coming or what?"

For a moment Naruto just stands there, hasty fingers tapping out a slapdash rhythm on the metal railing. It's doesn't last more than half a second of two before he starts to grin, feet quick to take him right back to Sasuke. He lets out a warm laugh, placing both hands on Sasuke's shoulders and steering him in a straight line. "You had me at ramen."


	28. To the Place Where We'll Always Meet

__...so, um, yeah. This one follows Wise (ch. 5), right after Itachi and Naruto meet for the first time.__

_tbh, not even going to bother with an excuse for this long-winded sap. Have none whatsoever. Just a poor attempt at unwanted backstory disguised beneath Sasuke and Naruto doing too much silly flirting. Sort of embarrassed I'm still beating this dead horse of an AU, because these two are always just so, so corny here, but it's still kind of fun, so thanks for the reads and reviews._

...

_"...your brother intimidates me."_

...

**To the Place Where We'll Always Meet**

"You couldn't have told me he was coming? Or at least given me some kind of warning before I got home?"

"And what kind of warning was I supposed to give? He was supposed to be in New York." Hands turned out, gripping the edge by his palms, Sasuke hops onto the counter, legs dangling over the side, scooting back until his feet are a good distance from touching the floor. "I didn't even know he was coming."

"Some kind of hint before you hung up on me would've been nice. Instead of worrying me for no reason, actually telling me he was here would've been great, too. Or was that something you conveniently overlooked—because, you know. Springing Itachi on me like that? Not cool, Sasuke."

With a snort, Sasuke begins to dig through the large, white paper bag placed on the counter, removing the rest of the groceries Naruto brought back. Next to the sink he sets down a bottle of jasmine tea and four foam cups of instant ramen, each lined up to make a neat little row, placing on top of one cup two packs of Lotte Black Black gum and a small bag of candy already opened.

"If you hadn't turned your phone off on me," Naruto says, "you could've sent me a message. I think I've known you long enough to deserve a little more consideration."

"Allowing you to live with me is consideration enough."

"But really, it wasn't exactly the impressionable kind of first impression I'd planned on making with your family. Especially with your brother. I felt like an idiot just standing there like that."

"And you look like an idiot standing there now—not helping me put this stuff away." Reaching behind him to open the cabinet door adjacent to his right, Sasuke places a small jar of red miso paste inside. "I don't see a difference."

The hard candy in his mouth is pushed to one side with a click of his tongue, and Naruto gives Sasuke a dry look, left cheek slightly protruding.

"Funny." With the back of his teeth, he bites down on the tart candy, breaking it into jagged little pieces that quickly become smaller and smaller.

"Stop overreacting."

Taking the small package of sweet bean cakes all but shoved into his hand, Naruto extends his arm to reach above Sasuke's head and places the package into the open cabinet. "Hey, cut me some slack here, all right. I come home, see you on the couch real cosy with this guy who almost looks just like you—except not—then he's smiling at me like he caught me in the act of doing something very, very wrong, which wasn't fair at all, since he already knew my name when I didn't know even who he was until he suddenly introduces himself as your _older brother_—and of course, you're no help.

"Hiding behind him and putting me on the spot like that. Not that I would've expected anything different from you, and yeah, I get that you were really embarrassed about the whole thing, with the way your face started to get seriously red because he kept calling you his little brother, treating you like you were still a little ki—"

"You finished yet?" Sasuke says, wearing one of those almost dull, really bland expressions with this tiny little tinge of resigned annoyance easy enough for Naruto to pick up on then promptly disregard.

"Finished what? Talking about my feelings?"

"Talking in general."

"Oh, I didn't even mention his X-ray vision, did I? Because I swear it felt like he instantly knew about all the embarrassing things I ever did in life. Like when I was four, and the time I accidentally broke this really old vase when our neighbours were babysitting me, but then I blamed it on their evil, possessed black cat from hell, cause it really was that damn cat's fault for following me everywhere and trying to chew off my ankle, which meant I had to tell my parents I couldn't be held responsible for supernatural forces outside my control. Obviously."

"I'm sure they believed you."

"Just like I can't believe you let me carry on and on like that in front of Itachi." Naruto pauses, placing a bag of brown rice inside the cabinet, next to the generous package of dry natto, between a two meal case of spicy curry udon and the snack-sized bags of okra chips Sasuke likes to eat too much. "Wait a minute—take that back." He closes the door. "I can."

"I can't let you do anything you don't want to do, Naruto."

"Don't think I'm going to fall for that with you," Naruto says, eyes stern following an accusatory finger pointed at the tip of Sasuke's nose. "You make me do a lot of things I don't even realise I'm doing until I've already done them. But hanging me out to dry in front of your brother..."

Pushing down Naruto's hand, Sasuke tilts his head, wearing this small little amused smile not even the least apologetic. "I already said I wasn't expecting him, didn't I? I was in the middle of working on the assignment Kakashi's forcing me to do. Seeing my brother really did take me by surprise."

"Took _you_ by surprise?" Naruto huffs, reaching for another piece of candy he unwraps and pops into his mouth. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

"...I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your show of concern during my obvious time of need."

"You call this a time of need?" Sasuke reveals another little smile, handing Naruto a box of Corn Frosty.

"I'm really not a big fan of this assembly line formation. Making me do all the work, especially since I'm the one who was forced to go to the store. Shouldn't you be doing this?"

"Your milk. Your cereal." Paper bag held over his lap, Sasuke folds it flat, laying the bottom section over then setting the bag to the side. "Your problem."

"Mr. I-only -like-sweet-things-when-nobody's-looking, you act like I didn't catch you eating the last of my Waffle Corn Frosty," Naruto mutters, leaning down to put the cereal inside the bottom cabinet to the right of Sasuke's leg. "But seriously," he says, standing upright, both hands placed near the counter's edge on either side of Sasuke, "back to your brother."

"Pretend I'm listening."

"Your _brother_, Sasuke."

"You said that already."

"Because I had a very strong feeling it was something that needed to be said again."

"And?"

"Well..." Taking his time to inhale, closing his mouth, Naruto slowly releases the air through his nose. "It's not that I don't like your brother, but did you notice that he seemed really..."

Both hands reaching for the wide collar of Naruto's t-shirt, Sasuke watches him for a moment or two, eyes made soft by a slight teasing gleam much more comforting and far less overwhelming than the kind of subtle scrutiny Itachi was subjecting Naruto to earlier. "Nice."

"Yeah, that, too. If that's what you want to call it, sure. Why not?"

"My brother's supposed to be something other than nice?" Sasuke says, grip light on Naruto's shirt beckoning him just a bit closer, pulling on the material in his hands with a short series of alternating tugs.

"...there's never any way to win with you, is there?" Naruto narrows his eyes, rightfully suspicious of the tiny little barely there smile that still hasn't left Sasuke's face. "I bet you said things about me, didn't you? Very mean and bad untrue things that made him stare at me like that for so long."

Smile overturned by an almost frown, Sasuke raises an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you didn't see the way he was staring at me."

"Since when does making occasional eye contact during a conversation constitute as staring?"

"You did say very mean and bad untrue things about me, didn't you?"

"Why would I say anything bad about you?"

"Answering my question with another question doesn't really answer my question."

With a single look, Sasuke conveys the long-suffering impression of rolling his eyes without actually rolling his eyes, releasing his grip on Naruto's collar and lowering his arms that fall crossed over his lap. "It's all in your head."

Some of it probably is, Naruto can admit. But not that much. Well, at least he doesn't think it's that much. "I'm telling you. The way he was staring at me, how closely he was paying attention to me, your brother was being really nice. Too nice, in fact."

"That's what you got out of his so-called staring. He was being too nice."

"Forget about the staring." Naruto gives a few quick shakes of his head, leaning forward then pushing up from the counter with his hands to stand up straight. "It's not just about the staring."

"Then what is it about?"

"Your brother kept smiling at me, Sasuke," Naruto hisses. "_Smiling_. With one of the most threatening, non-threatening smiles ever. Interrogating me about my hobbies, what I'm studying, why I'm interested in photography. Talking about the photos on the wall then actually having the nerve to compliment me after I told him I took them. And now I'm going to have dreams about the whole thing. Nightmares."

"Dreams about my brother smiling at you?"

"Please don't put it that way. It sounds creepy when you put it that way."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, it means he likes you?"

"Likes me? Ch. No, Sasuke—no. You don't smile at people like that. And the way your brother was smiling at me, seriously, there was just this vibe he had, right. This certain...okay, I don't know exactly what to call it, but that doesn't not prove my point. Which is, whatever Itachi was up to, I felt it."

"He wanted to get to know you."

"Yeah, right. That's probably what he set out to make me to think."

"Mm-hm."

"I don't know if he was yanking my chain or what, but it sort of felt like I was secretly getting the third degree for stealing your favourite toy ten years ago. Like I was being put on trial, only, it was more like he was waiting for me to incriminate myself for something I didn't even do. Not that I'm saying I'm guilty of doing anything, because I didn't even know you ten years ago, but a guy who looks that harmless shouldn't radiate such strong killing intent, you know. It's just not natural."

Sasuke makes this soft noise a cross between a sigh and a hum, partially resigned, maybe that much more placating, fingers giving a playful tug to stray strands of blond hair he pushes away from Naruto's eyes. "I will never claim to understand how the hell you even manage to come up with half the crap you say."

"It's not crap if it's true. And this is true. Because those looks you like to give me sometimes, I can see where you get it from now. But appearing so nice at first, the kind of smile Itachi was giving me, that was wrongful deceit."

"All this from a smile, Naruto?"

"I did not feel like it was a happy smile. It was more like a suspicious smile. Or an unpromising smile. Or a borderline-I-know-how-to-hide-dead-bodies kind of—"

Leaning forward, Sasuke raises an arm around Naruto's neck, letting it fall over Naruto's shoulder, hand relaxed against Naruto's back. The corner of his mouth starts to twitch, lips pressed together tight in a too obvious attempt not to laugh as he reaches with his other hand to pat Naruto on the head. "Getting so worked up over something like that," he says, letting his forehead fall against Naruto's, fingers tangled within coarse strands of blond hair, "you're going to hurt yourself at this rate."

"You're starting to get a little too comfortable with this," Naruto says, eyebrows pinched and nose scrunched in slight annoyance. "Don't think this artificial height suddenly gives you some kind of advantage. You don't need to let that kind of power trip go to your head."

"There's nothing artificial about the fact I'm taller than you."

"Jerk." With a grunt, Naruto lowers his head, dropping it against Sasuke's chest, arms reaching around Sasuke's waist pulling Sasuke towards him, nearer and nearer to the edge of the counter as he worms himself comfortable between Sasuke's legs. "I'm glad you find the way your brother makes me feel so funny."

Hands making a quick reach for the arms around him, Sasuke braces himself, the pads of his fingers digging into Naruto's skin. "N-Naruto, what're you—let go. Let go. You're going to make us both—"

"You know I wouldn't let you fall."

Sasuke tenses at the words. After a few seconds, no more than two or three, he begins to relax. Slowly, his fingers loosen their grip and his arms around Naruto's shoulders return Naruto's hold. "I know you're only this talkative when you're nervous, but it can't just be about my brother smiling at you."

Naruto gives an unintelligible grumble further muffled by Sasuke's shirt.

Pulling him closer, Sasuke breathes out softly, hand stroking the hair along Naruto's nape. "But even if Itachi coming here was unexpected, you normally don't act like this. So why do you suddenly feel the need to make a big deal out of meeting him, Naruto?"

It's less of a request and more of a demand, but Naruto answers, anyway, without question, giving into the gentle fingers massaging his scalp. Deep, he breathes in. Heavy, he breathes out.

"...your brother intimidates me."

There's a slight pause at first, an extremely brief lapse of silence, Sasuke's hand stilling before his quiet snort turns into a disbelieving chuckle short-lived that vibrates from deep within his chest. "He what?"

"That's right. Laugh it up, you bastard." Fingers pressing into Sasuke's sides in warning, Naruto lets out a near growl, holding him still when Sasuke starts to squirm. "I'm not saying it again."

"Naruto, d-don't—don't do that. You know I don't like being—"

"Then don't make fun of me."

"I'm not making fun of you. I just didn't realise the Great Uzumaki Naruto could actually be intimidated."

"Shut up, Sasuke. You don't get to use my words against me at a time like this."

"Since when did I need your permission?"

"Sasuke..."

Still holding Naruto, fingers of one hand again running through blond hair, Sasuke makes a small, vague noise. "My brother's a nice person. You said it yourself. I don't see what's so intimidating about him."

"That's because he's your brother," Naruto mumbles. "But for me, he just...he just is, okay."

"How, though? You're the guy who thinks the word stranger is synonymous with being another potential number in your phone's contact list."

"You do realise you're my permanent roommate, right?" One hand running along Sasuke's side, fingers marking a path following down Sasuke's hip, Naruto gives him a firm squeeze. "Why aren't you trying to be more accommodating in this situation? You're supposed to be making me feel better."

"Feel better about what?"

"You really could learn to do without the sarcasm, you know."

"No, I don't know." Sasuke shifts a little, resting his chin on top of Naruto's head. "Tell me."

It takes a while to inhale, seemingly forever trapped in this one instance a meaningless effort to keep time still, but it isn't long before Naruto lets out the breath he's been holding. "...well, uh, see, the thing is, I don't think Itachi's intimidating because he's not a nice guy. Because he is. Really. A hell of a lot nicer than I think I should be able to expect someone related to you to be."

"It's more like it's _because_ he's your brother that he's intimidating. Since he's someone important to you. And I know how much he means to you, which makes it even more important that he sees me in a good light. He's a really big part of your life, so I really want to him to accept me, because I hope one day he'll consider me an important part of your life, too."

"Naruto, you..." Laying his head down, cheek pressed against Naruto's hair, Sasuke sighs, fingers making a reach for the back of Naruto's shirt sleeve gripped tight in one hand. "Why wouldn't you be?"

Naruto gives a half-hearted shrug, staring at flecks of ink and paint splattered across Sasuke's blue shirt. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, sometimes, this really good thing I have with you, I kind of feel like we rushed into it, because even though we've known each other for a while, being with you like this, some things still feel too new, but then at the same time, I get this sort of stupid kind of scary feeling that it wouldn't be enough even if we knew each other all our lives, and it's just—I don't know."

With a near quiet scoff he almost doesn't hear, Naruto closes his eyes, sagging against Sasuke just a little, giving him another squeeze, tighter, unyielding. "I never know what I'm trying to say, do I? Not that any of this matters after the fact, but...

"When the three of us were talking, even if it was mostly Itachi asking questions trying to get to know me better—when you talk about him, it's easy to see that he means a lot to you, but when I saw the way you kept looking at him, like he was the only person in the room with you, you just looked so...so...so _happy_.

"So maybe I kind of started to wonder if there might not be enough room for me in there, too, and then I started to wonder if I'll ever be able to make you that happy. Not in the same way, though, because it's not like I'm trying to compete with Itachi, since he's your brother, and I'm definitely not trying to be your brother, but—"

"Naruto."

"...yeah?"

"Remind me what I ever saw in a loser like you."

"Says the one who's always so mean to me," Naruto mutters, at the mishmash of paint and ink staining an expanse of faded blue peeking with one eye open, finger poking Sasuke in the side. "Am I ever anything else to you?"

"A hopeless idiot."

"Who's really the hopeless idiot here? Me or the guy who fell for me?"

"Still you. For not giving me a choice."

Ducking from underneath Sasuke's head, Naruto lifts his gaze, exposing a wide grin teetering on something dangerously close to being called cocky. "Couldn't resist me, could you?"

"Itachi once told me I shouldn't be so emotionally standoffish when it came to people I didn't know," Sasuke says, sitting up and pulling his arms from around Naruto's shoulders. "Falling for a brash idiot like you, though, I don't think that's what he had in mind."

"Ha! I knew it—I just _knew_ it. You did tell him untrue things about me."

"Hard to avoid mentioning the invasive guy who broke the shinai he gave me."

"He knows about the shaman stick incident?" There's this tiny little squeak slash mangled sounding gurgle Naruto really didn't mean to let come out. "Were you intentionally trying to make me seem like a bad person? Is that the real reason why he kept staring at me?"

"Maybe."

Taking a step back, Naruto sighs, pulling at the hem of a bright yellow shirt covering dark wash jeans, crossing his arms and letting the majority of his weight settle on his left foot. "After all this time, you're never going to let me forget that one, are you?"

"The day we first met, you don't think it's important enough to remember?"

"You know that wasn't what I trying to—_ugh_, you grudge-holding asshole, why do you always keep doing these things to me?"

Making a grab for Naruto's hand, pulling Naruto's arm away from his chest, Sasuke smiles with a soft laugh, their fingers entwined he raises to hold against his cheek. "I've said all I could about you to my brother."

Naruto gives him a wary look. "...I'm almost afraid to ask what he thought about me the first time you said anything. Knowing you, though, I don't think I even want to know what you said."

"Mm, I told him about all the stupid things you say."

"Just because you get embarrassed over some of the things I say about you doesn't make them stupid."

"So many of the stupid faces you make."

"Don't even try it. You know you live for my faces."

His other hand cradling the back of Naruto's head, fingers clutching blond hair, Sasuke lures him closer, lowering his mouth to place over Naruto's.

Not exactly sweet, it's short, barely even counts as a kiss with how long it doesn't last, slightly more than just a peck, but there's something affectionate about it, the same kind of understated affection behind Sasuke's usual teasing, and the corners of Naruto's mouth rise to form this ridiculously dopey grin he can't help but show off.

"...have I ever told you how much I really like when you do that?"

"Do what?"

Leaning forward, Naruto squeezes Sasuke's hand, knuckles brushing against Sasuke's cheek. "Prove just how irresistible I am to you."

This time Sasuke does give into the urge to roll his eyes, dropping his arms and letting go of Naruto's hand that just as soon catches his wrist. "My standards are lower than what they used to be."

"Then I must have blown your mind considering you can't seem to get enough of me, especially with the way you went at me last—"

"This coming from the same guy who claims my brother intimidates him."

"Which he still does. Somehow, I'm having a really hard time imagining there being a lot of people who aren't intimidated by him. But it'll make me feel a whole lot better if you tell me how much you like me."

"I've already said enough. I'm not saying anything else to you."

"Come on, Sasuke. You know you want to, so just say it." Naruto continues to move closer, pressing a smile against the corner of Sasuke's mouth, thumb rubbing along the inside of Sasuke's wrist. "Tell me how much you like me."

"Tell me why I still bother to put up with you, first."

"The same reason even now you still won't push me away."

Sasuke falters, but whatever was going to come out, he holds in. "...you're always so...so Naruto."

"Meaning what?"

It takes a second or two for Sasuke to say anything, but before he does, he raises his hand to hold the side of Naruto's face, fingers moving almost unbearably slow trailing along Naruto's sideburn, following the curve of his jaw, and then retracing their path back up to further ruffle strands of hair already sticking up every which way. "Meaning this."

Naruto blinks. His head draws back a little, eyes narrowed in confusion. "My hair?"

"I like it this way."

"What—messy? It's always messy."

"It is." Hesitant, maybe even a little reluctant, Sasuke lets his hand fall away from Naruto's hair. "But I don't want you to change it."

"It's never what I like with you, is it?" Naruto snorts, thumb a gentle pressure pressing into Sasuke's skin. "You're lucky I don't want to change it, either."

"I know. That's why I like it. That's why I..." Trailing off, turning away from Naruto, Sasuke glances to the open doorway leading to the sitting room.

Naruto frowns. "...Sasuke?"

Lowering his gaze to the fingers curled around his wrist, Sasuke raises his head to meet Naruto's eyes, a careful sort of uneven smile tugging at thin lips. "Itachi really does like you."

"He does?"

Nodding, Sasuke makes this soft little hum.

"How do you know? Not that I don't believe you. Still," Naruto says, letting go of Sasuke's arm. "I mean, I used to think you were hard to read, but with Itachi, in all seriousness, I really couldn't tell with him. Is your whole family like that?"

"Not that I know of. I think Itachi's somewhat more biased."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that."

"Depending on his mood, I guess he can be a little intense sometimes, too."

"A little intense?"

"Only a little."

"You're mocking me again, aren't you?"

"Most of the time, he doesn't even raise his voice. And it's rare when he does."

"That's not doing a lot to improve my lack of warm and fuzzies right now," Naruto says. "Then again, at least he isn't one of those overprotective sibling types. Because I might be in that role soon, so I would know. The whole time he was here, I just kept waiting for him to give me _the talk_. You know, the one where if I hurt you, I don't get to see the light of day anymore."

"Stop being so melodramatic. My brother wouldn't threaten you, Naruto. Especially over something like this. He's not a violent person. More like a self-proclaimed pacifist."

"Unlike you, you mean."

"If you want to put it that way, then yeah." With the heel of his palm, Sasuke gives Naruto a not so tender loving shove on the shoulder, conveniently deaf to the admittedly overstated cry of pain immediately dissolving into laughter as Naruto stumbles a few steps back. "Unlike me."

"Oh, now you tell me. Should have known. With how mean you are to me, it's a wonder you guys are even related."

"Considering the fact I grew up with Itachi, how often I've been told I take after him, it's a wonder you even thought he could be intimidating."

Naruto just gives him this blank stare, this sort of off-kilter deadpan look, because that was just uncalled for.

"Anyway, being able to see through my brother's distorted sense of humour aside, as far as liking you goes," Sasuke says, on the high and mighty side of amused, offering a knowing smile so very far from being subtle, "he told me."

"I wish he told me this," Naruto mutters.

"He did. In not so many words, maybe. But he thinks knowing you has been good for me."

A sudden shot of warmth rushing to his cheeks, Naruto tries to laugh it off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Psssht. Of course knowing me's been good for you. I'm the best for you—the only one for you. "

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Naruto says, wry. "It's funny, though. I never worry about you meeting my family. When that time comes, I already know they'll go crazy over you—who wouldn't, right? But the day when I finally get to meet the rest of yours, I think I might actually be ready for that one now, especially your parents. Because after meeting Itachi, honestly, I don't think it can get any worse."

"Naruto, you don't have to—"

"No, it's not about that anymore. I'm over it. All I'm saying is, the unnecessary added element of surprise makes meeting your brother qualify as a very stressful experience for me."

"Tell me this doesn't have anything to do with you wanting Itachi's approval."

Naruto squints. "Is this another one of those trick questions?"

"Naruto."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop. Seriously, it doesn't have a lot to do with whether or not he approves. Not all of it. I just think it's nice he does. That's it. And if he likes me, too? Well, don't expect me to say no to that."

"I won't. As long as you don't make this about needing my brother's approval, that's fine, because his opinion shouldn't affect you to that kind of extent. He knows I'm too old for that. We're both too old for that. And it's not his place. He doesn't have the final say in what I do."

"But knowing Itachi likes me," Naruto says, reaching to straighten the thick handle of the broad paintbrush tucked behind Sasuke's ear, "it still means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

"Not in the way you're assuming." With a sigh, Sasuke raises his legs from over the edge and folds them on top of the counter. Yet even though he's sitting right there, right in front of Naruto, he gets this real distant look in his eyes, this funny little thoughtful gaze that seems to take him too far away. "When I was younger, my brother was the first person I looked up to. I always thought he was just so...

"He was so smart. Honest. And strong. And funny. Confident. Compassionate. Modest. So many things I wasn't sure I could ever be."

"...you make him sound too good to be true," Naruto says softly. "A little too perfect."

"Maybe I used to think he was. Maybe in some aspects he still is, because he's my older brother. I doubt that part of me who still admires him will ever change. But no. No, he's not perfect. Far from it. He'll be the first one to tell you that. It's just the kind of person my brother's always been. He's just...Itachi."

"Still. You're practically gushing over him. I don't know how I think that should make me feel."

Out comes another sigh, this hushed hum, an already quiet sound that somehow seems that much softer. "At one point, my entire world seemed to revolve around the smiles he'd give me," Sasuke says. "My mom used to call me his little shadow because I'd always try to go wherever he went. But my brother meant everything to me. I wanted nothing more than to be just like him. And I did anything I could to spend time with him.

"Eventually, somewhere along the line, he became someone I wanted to surpass. Then I did everything to convince myself I was going to be better than him one day.

"Looking back, it's actually..." Sasuke laughs a little, challenging Naruto's open show of concern with this bad attempt at a smile that just comes out strained. "It all seems so stupid now, but I guess that's just how stupid I was back then.

"For the longest time, he'd always tell me I shouldn't try to be more like him, that to be a better person I only had to be myself, but there was a turning point when I was eleven, that summer he decided to move out on his own. The childish part of me refused to listen to him anymore, because I didn't think there was anything he could say that would actually make a difference. After growing up constantly being compared to Itachi, it was hard not to see him as a hypocrite when the rest of our family didn't seem to have a problem reminding me how different I was from my brother.

"Wanting to be better than him was never enough, though. Whatever I accomplished wasn't even remotely on the same level as anything Itachi did. But before I began my last year in high school, even after he left for New York, despite him no longer being in Japan, I realised I just couldn't stay in Yamaguchi. It's one of the reasons I left. At home, I knew nothing I did could ever bring me close enough to compare to my brother."

"Sasuke..."

"But coming to Tama, being on my own for the first time, I'm starting to learn it's okay to be myself. And now that I'm beginning this part of my life with you, I..."

A hand over his forehead, Sasuke looks down at his lap, running his fingers through dark hair he pushes away from his face, lips pursed to try to cover up this almost tentative smile that doesn't quite disappear.

It's a nervous tell Naruto's learned to pick up on, this rare habit Sasuke has whenever he gets insanely shy about admitting something, too shy to even resort to the usual violence that pretty much ends up with Naruto on the receiving end of some kind of not so harmful bodily harm—but it's this part of Sasuke he knows he gets to keep all to himself, this part of Sasuke he doesn't have to be selfish about not wanting anyone else to see, and when Sasuke looks back at him with that soft expression in his eyes, with that quiet certainty meant only for him, it's in that one smile Naruto swears he manages to catch a glimpse of the rest of his life.

"...so seeing Itachi again for the first time in years, and then having the opportunity to introduce you to him, yeah, in that sense, it really does mean a lot to me."

It actually sounds...sweet, he wants to say, nearly does say, but then changes his mind and doesn't, because outside of sex, Sasuke still gets uncomfortable way too easily over those sappy kinds of relationship type things Naruto's known to throw around on occasion, and even calling him cute every once in a while is threatening to push the envelope.

Instead, what comes out is this:

"That you're openly acknowledging the fact you willingly associate with me, I feel like I'm in one of those Korean dramas you like so much, in the middle of some kind of special long-awaited confession that only happens during the end of the episode."

"Do you always have to be such a dork?" Sasuke says, digging in the small bag beside him for a piece of Naruto's candy he unwraps and puts in his mouth, sucking on the candy as sour as the glower on his face. "I should have kicked you out the day we moved here."

"You almost did."

"Still don't know why I didn't."

"Because you've been waiting a lifetime for this one moment to get the chance to introduce me to your brother."

"You're exaggerating again. Don't make yourself seem so important."

"But it's true," Naruto says, the teasing grin that starts to stretch across his face growing wider by the second. He leans closer, two fingers tapping out an imaginary drum solo on Sasuke's calf exposed by the hem of black sweatpants rolled up to his knee. "And going by what you said earlier, Itachi seems to think you've been waiting for me all this time, too."

"When'd I say anything about—" Sasuke lets out a frustrated scowl, closing his eyes he immediately reopens with a less than convincing glare that somehow still has the power to remind Naruto a little too much of Itachi's very persuasive smile.

Which is his only warning before he's on the receiving end of another hard shove on the shoulder.

"Ease up a little, would you."

"Get away from me."

"I bet this is one of those blind hero-worshipping cases, isn't it," Naruto says, arm reaching to Sasuke's left for the moderate-sized electric kettle that doesn't work as fast as it should sitting on the next counter over. He opens the lid while heading towards the sink, holding the kettle under the faucet then turning on the water with a nudge from his forearm. "Still seeing Itachi as your childhood idol after all this time, I'm starting to think you have some sort of complex."

"I never stopped thinking you need to learn to stop talking."

"You get so touchy about your brother, you know that." Grin light, grip on the white handle tight, Naruto turns the water off and takes the kettle from the sink. He sets it down on the empty counter spaces closest to the fridge, plugging the cord into the wall and flipping the light grey switch to turn the kettle on. "Are you two still really that close?"

"I'm not a little kid following him around anymore, but...we've always been close. Although it may not be like it used to be, I don't think our relationship has changed that much. It's just been a while."

"Is he staying in Narita long?" Opening a drawer, Naruto pulls out two pairs of disposable chopsticks, two of one too many they've managed to collect in the span of the three months since they moved in together.

"For the rest of the week. He's only here on business, and then he's heading back out Saturday, to Singapore."

Closing the drawer, carefully, Naruto sets the chopsticks on the counter. "...oh."

"It's fine. At least he's closer now. He's been trying to relocate near Yamaguchi, but who knows how long that'll take. When he first left for America, he wasn't even sure how long he'd have to stay."

"In the end, you still got to keep in touch, though, right?"

"He was always busy with his responsibilities. I had my own. Cram school, entrance exams, and then moving out. Because of the time difference and his hectic schedule, we kept up as much as we could. But to have him come back to Japan now—I didn't even think I'd be able to see him again this soon. It's more than I expected."

"You said it's been over two years. How's that soon?" Naruto reaches for two Big Cup Noodle soups from on top of the fridge, grabbing one with each hand.

"Considering he started on his own, branching out overseas with a brand new company and succeeding in one of the most competitive global markets, more or less, I think that's relatively soon."

"As if going to the same school as you doesn't make me look bad enough. Now you have to bring someone like your brother into the picture." Naruto snorts, turning around to face Sasuke. "I guess this means I'm doing lunch."

"I'm not stopping you."

"You wouldn't," Naruto says. "Plan on sharing with me?"

The side of his face resting against his hand, elbow propped up on his knee, sceptical, Sasuke looks between the foam cups in Naruto's hand, reading them with extreme prejudice. "Bacon Potato Mayonnaise and Chicken Rush?"

"It tastes pretty good when you put them together." And it does. One of the few combinations that actually did when he and Kiba used to go out buying a bunch of random flavours and mixing them to see what turned out best.

Sasuke scrunches his nose. "Keep deluding yourself."

"As much as you steal my clothes you keep saying I should get rid of, or help yourself to my food you claim you don't like _while_ I'm eating it, you're only picky when you want to be." Naruto laughs at the very highly uninspired expression on Sasuke's face. "We still have some leftover coconut curry chicken from last night, though. Some of those meat and egg sandwiches from Minimart, too, if you want them before they go bad. A few pieces of that mayo shrimp cheese pizza. And then some stuff that might have been potato salad at one time. I think. Or pork. Or some other kind of food."

"...we really need to start eating better than this."

"Yeah, we really should," Naruto agrees, nodding with a faint hum, because he knows for a fact Sasuke used to eat a lot better than this. "So. Bacon Potato Mayonnaise or Chicken Rush?"

There's a small twitch to Sasuke's lips, a slight curve that settles into a smile. He sits up a little, unfolding his legs and letting them hang over the counter his hands grip by the edge. "What kind of choice is that?"

"Unless you feel like cooking..."

"I don't feel like cooking."

"But I thought you liked cooking."

"Not when I'm still in the middle of a painting I haven't even started working on. Why don't you cook?"

"I would, but let's face it," Naruto says, emptying his hands of the Cup Noodles he places on the counter, "while your cooking _might_ poison us, there's an even better chance mine probably will kill."

There's a long pause, a seemingly substantially long pause that comes right before the slight roar of boiling water, broken into by the audible click of the kettle's tab popping up, and cut off short by the high-pitched melody signifying the end of the boiling process.

Which a straight-faced Sasuke interrupts by throwing a piece of hard candy at Naruto's face that nearly takes out his eye.

"Hey! What was that for? I said my cooking was worse than yours, didn't I?"

"You always eat what I cook."

"Yeah, and I'm willing to take a chance on my life each time because that's how much I really like you."

Reaching for one of the small foam cups stacked neatly by his side, Sasuke picks it up and reads the label, turning over the cup in his hand. "You bought this for me."

"Thought you might like it."

Sasuke extends his arm towards Naruto, motioning the packaged organic tofu and miso ramen in his hand. "Here."

"...is it safe to come near you?"

"Do you think it'd be safer for you not to?"

"All right, all right. Jeeze," Naruto says, two then three steps forward, taking the small foam cup, "what is with you today." He taps the inside of Sasuke's leg, hand sliding up, palm resting over Sasuke's knee, but he's caught off guard when Sasuke reaches for his face, both hands drawing him in for another kiss, this time not so sweet, Sasuke all but swallowing him whole, trying to devour his soul, and really, he can think of much worse ways to go.

It's too soon when Sasuke pulls away, so Naruto dives back in, mouth covering Sasuke's murmur of surprise to kiss him again. And again. His fingers curl around Sasuke's shirt, keeping him within reach until Sasuke starts to laugh, soft, hands still holding Naruto's face close but making sure he's just far enough away.

"Naruto."

Naruto blinks, once, twice, getting a grip on the cup of noodles he almost drops. "Huh?"

"...thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you."

"For being me? I thought I was just a hopeless idiot too irresistible to resist."

"You are. At least the idiot part, but..."

"Not like you know how to resist me, anyway." Naruto indulges in a shameless grin.

Biting on his lip, Sasuke gives this little smile back. "Let me ask you something."

"What?"

"...how do you feel about weddings?"


	29. Simple Equation

_Silly, meaningless dialogue with juvenile humour. Pre-slash(ish). And yes, the password is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad pla__y on words._

...

_"Because ramenfan1023 is the password you use for everything."_

...

**Simple Equation**

"Are you using my computer again?"

"Does it look like I'm using your computer again?"

"..."

"..."

"Here's where I'd normally offer to ignore that and be nice to you for once. Except you're the one who's always mean to me first."

"Yes, Naruto. I'm using your computer again."

"Why are you using my computer again?"

"..."

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Wondering why you like to use my laptop so much when you have your own, that's a serious question."

"Because ramenfan1023 is the password you use for everything."

"..."

"..."

"That's not the point."

"Of course it's not."

"Tch. Making yourself comfortable with my stuff, in _my_ place, and then having the nerve to treat me like I'm the one who did something wrong."

"Mm-hm."

"What's taking you so long, anyway? It didn't take me that long to change, did it?"

"No, but I need to finish up a few emails and send a message to Kakashi by one. I'm still stuck in that advertising class."

"I don't even know why they scheduled you for that. It's already been a week."

"Registrar office said it was a computer glitch, from trying to fill up empty seats. Kakashi said they'll get to it eventually, but I'm not waiting until the end of the term to drop a class. He actually responded this time, though, so I want to get back to him before he tries to leave his office. Then he can't try to justify—why are you sitting so close to me?"

"Because it's my comfy chair you're sitting in, and you said I could take you out to lunch, but obviously you're only using that as an excuse to use my computer, so I'm just going to bother you until we actually leave, because I really want to go to that new curry place. Oh, and I want to try the octopus balls at Mashiro's, too. Everybody keeps saying how good it is."

"As interesting as that doesn't sound, get away from me."

"Actually, I think I'm pretty comfortable right here."

"Go. Away."

"But you're in my chair. Hogging my computer. And I'm hungry. Breakfast was three hours ago. My stomach is now in pain."

"Then quit whining to me about it and go get something to eat."

"Your left eye's doing that funny little twitchy thing again. Is that—haha, seriously? That's what Kakashi calls you? No wonder why you're always so cranky when it comes to that guy."

"Naruto, stop—"

"How come you never let me get away with calling you that?"

"Don't be so childish. You are not calling me—move your—stop trying to read my mail."

"It's my computer."

"You shouldn't have left it on your desk where I could see it."

"...it was in my bag."

"Off me. Now."

"Just let me read the rest of it real quick."

"No."

"Why won't you—"

"It's none of your business."

"But it's my computer. And why's he talking about me in your email? Is he trying to spread more rumours about me again? Ever since I started taking his class, I swear that guy's been out to get me."

"It's just—give it back. What do you think you're—"

"Take it easy, all right. It's just a joke. Not like I'm actually going to send—"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...um, what'd I touch?"

"...Naruto."

"Hehe...oops?"

"You have three seconds before I kill you."

"Sasuke, I—"

"One."

"It was an accident, Sasuke—an accident. I didn't mean it. Kakashi probably won't take it seriously, anyway. Just because I told him he's being selfish interfering with all your time that's supposed to be spent with—"

"Three."

"What the—you can't just skip over numbers like that. You didn't even give me a—"

"_You overgrown manchild_!"

"What are you—"

"What the hell possessed you to send something so inappropriate? Now Kakashi's going to think I—"

"He's not going to—why are you shaking me so hard?"

"Apparently I'm not doing it hard enough if you're still talking."

"Are you trying to kill me on purpose?"

"Does it look like I'm trying to killing you on purpose?"

"Watch out for my—that was my _head_, you asshole."

"Your head's going to be the last thing you'll have to worry about by the time I'm finished with you."

"What part of _it was an accident_ do you not get?"

"The part where you still sent that email to Kakashi."

"Sheesh, I'm sorry, all right—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"This is the last time you're going to—"

"It isn't like I—damn it, Sasuke, you—_stop_, just stop, okay."

"Don't make me hurt you."

"I think there's a really good chance you probably already broke my shoulder. Like ninety-four percent or something."

"...let go of me, Naruto."

"_Hell no_. Not when you're trying to kill me."

"I'm going to do a lot more than kill you once I get my foot up your—"

"Oi, Shikamaru, you in here? Kenji said Nakamura wanted to meet up at the..."

"..."

"..."

"At the...um..."

"H-hey, Ch-Chouji. Chouji, it's you. Chouji...hi."

"...Naruto, I...as much as I appreciate how often you and Shikamaru like to leave your door unlocked, uh, is this a bad time?"

"Bad time? What are you—oh, me and Sasuke, you mean. That, what this is, it's not what it looks like. Definitely not what it looks like. Then again, who said me and Sasuke look like we're in a compromising position, anyway?"

"Um, no one did."

"...and just what're you trying to insinuate, Naruto?"

"Ah, well, uh, you see, Sasuke, the thing is—with me sitting on you like this, and, uh...your legs being where they are out...um, there—even though you were trying to break my rib cage and squeeze me to death just a few seconds ago, I guess if anybody walked in on this situation, us being in the position we're in, not that that's what us being in this position is what it means, and not that I think that what this position we're in looks like what it doesn't mean, but if I'm just being honest, it really does kind of look like we were in the middle of getting ready to have—"

"_Die_."

"Wait a min—wait a minute, Sasu—"

"Hold still."

"Why shouldn't I keep moving when I don't want to get hurt?"

"You idiot, my foot going up your ass is supposed to hurt."

"I'm not ready to see my life flash before my eyes. I'm too good looking to die. I'm too—_what have I ever done to you in a past life_?"

"Shut up and stop struggling so I can kill you."

"What the hell kind of encouragement is that?!"

"I know I told you to stop struggling."

"Friends don't let friends kill each other, remember? Especially best friends. Best friends like you and—why are you always trying to kill me on a regular basis?!"

"Because stupid shit always comes out of your mouth whenever you're breathing!"

"I don't know why you're acting so embarrassed. It's not like we were actually having sex or—_ohmygod_—why are you stabbing my back with your knee? Stop pulling my—you're going to break my—you bastard, my arms _do not_ bend that way."

"Stop whining and accept your death like a man."

"...C-Chouji...sav-ve...me."

"Not that I enjoy watching Sasuke beat you up, but aren't you the one who claimed you can handle these very pitiful kinds of situations on your own?"

"Never mind this idiot, Chouji. He's already a lost cause."

"What kind of—"

"Besides, Naruto, Shikamaru told me it's best not to interfere and let this apparent thing you have run its course. A year later, but still...it's something I'd prefer to stay out of."

"What'd you mean Shikamaru told—you're just going to stand there and watch me die?"

"Mm, actually, I'm just going to go, so..."

"H-hey, Chouji, don't—Chouji, stop being so inconsiderate and help me out here. This violent bastard's trying to kill me and you aren't even—"

"Haven't you learned to stop talking yet?"

"...p-pain...I am in so much..._pain_."

"Um, yeah, so, I'm just...I'm just going to leave quietly. Leave you to...that—whatever it is you're doing. Next time I'll make sure to call ahead."


	30. When You Say the Words That I Can't Say

_If anyone stumbles across here for Dirty Harry, thanks for the interest, but it is complete. There's nothing else I can do with it._

_For this clutter of a thing, though, I finally have an organised timeline. The link on my profile goes to my lj, but that's the best place for me to keep it. Though, t__wo updates this time, because I really needed something to offset what this one became._

_While it's floating in the realm of pre-slash, these two just became very sad here, in a very unrealistic middle school romance kind of way. There're a lot of things going on, probably too many that dragged out too long, but it's mostly a susceptible Sasuke who doesn't notice himself falling, and a fumbling Naruto who ends up trying entirely too hard—it all got away from me._

_**Chiidorii**: Ah, thank you. Really. _(．．*) _Although if inspiration does strike, I hope you get a chance to write it. _

_The sap is apparently very strong with me, but I'm happy you didn't think it came across as too much, especially with how Naruto turned out because he...yeah. And n__o, your English is plenty fine. tbh, I never know what to think about my writing, but if I'm lucky enough to be able to convey at least _something_ to someone, that's what really makes it for me, so knowing you like it at all is more than good enough._

_**Guest:** Thank you very much. ^^;; I'm glad you liked it and were able to find it again._

...

_"And what makes you think I'd even need to rely on a clumsy guy like you?"_

...

**When You Say the Words That I Can't Say**

"Suigetsu said I'd find you up here."

Caught off guard by the familiar voice, hands on either side of him pressing hard into the ground, Sasuke turns around and looks up, more than a little surprised to see Naruto standing near the top of the short flight of concrete steps. "...you were looking for me?"

"Course I was." Lips pursed, with a quick glance to his right, Naruto shoves his hands into the pockets of a light grey jacket. He takes a step down, following with another two then three until he reaches the bottom of the stairs leading to the narrow enclave on the roof.

"Why wouldn't I be looking for you?" No more than a few more steps away from where Sasuke's sitting, he pauses, the slight creases along his forehead becoming more prominent. He gives Sasuke a funny look, features marred with a confusion quickly curbed by the beginnings of an easygoing smile. "You got my message, right?"

"Yeah." Feet flat on the ground, legs spread apart, Sasuke shifts against a tall wall of old and greying brick, knees enclosed by his arms held together by the fingers of his left hand wrapped loosely around his right wrist. "I did."

"I told you I was going to be held up finishing some prints in the dark room, so I just got here." Long strides carry Naruto forward. Beneath the floodlight overhead, one more step then two and he's in front of Sasuke, peering down at Sasuke, still smiling an easygoing smile that tightens slightly on the left corner to become a deliberate sort of half grin. "I know parties aren't your necessarily thing, but I thought you were at least going to wait for me to show up before you left."

"As often as you like to invite yourself over here, you do realise Kenji and I live in the same apartment complex. Or did that conveniently slip your mind like everything else does?"

"Eh, minor details."

"Minor details?"

"Very minor details. Extremely minor details." With a low hum and an absent nod, Naruto rocks back on his heels, flexing his fingers furled inside his pockets. "Since when did all the little stuff in life start to matter, anyway?"

"A purist like you should know. If you took the rest of your classes as seriously as you did photography, you wouldn't have to worry so much about falling behind at the end of the term."

"When it comes to photography, I can be a little picky sometimes, maybe. Which isn't to say it's a bad thing like you're trying to make it out to be." Abrupt, Naruto stops moving. He crosses one foot over the other and begins to lower himself to take a seat on the ground. "But the way I see it, it's the big stuff that really cou—" Tripping over what can only be described as _air_, eyes wide, he yelps, hands flailing in a failed attempt to keep from losing his balance, but it's the strong grip on his arm that doesn't let him completely fall.

Save for the near mishap that almost led to the collision between his head and a brick wall (there's some kind of underlying conceit, Sasuke knows—with someone like Naruto, there has to be) Naruto makes a relatively safe landing, legs crossed and arms outstretched, body hunched forward still as his eyes dart from side to side. "Nobody saw that."

"Smooth, Naruto. Real smooth."

"Yeah, yeah, kick me while I'm down," Naruto grumbles, his entire face flushed a bright red that manages to reach the tips of his ears. "Nobody can be cool all the time."

"Speak for yourself."

"No, I'm speaking for you, too. _Especially_ you."

Releasing Naruto's arm, Sasuke snorts. "Are you okay?"

Naruto prolongs an already exaggerated sigh, sitting up then letting his shoulders slump a little, bringing his arms over his lap. "Where does having my pride hurt put me?"

Elbows bent over his knees, Sasuke drops his forehead against his arm. "Same place you'd be if you didn't think pride was an issue."

"Don't try to hide. I can see you laughing at me just fine from here."

Lifting his head, lips pressed together unable to hold back a smile, Sasuke keeps his mouth hidden behind his arm. "I'm not the one who fell for no apparent reason."

"Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto gives him a flat glare. "No, really. Thank you. Not like I wanted to impress you, anyway," he mutters, traces of a blush finally beginning to fade. Shifting in place, his knee bumps against Sasuke's leg, and he looks down, trying to settle into a more comfortable position. "My legs are going to fall asleep sitting like this for too long."

Restless, he starts to fidget, raising his knees then eventually deciding to lower his legs only to end up crossing them again. "This place is a tight fit, don't you think?

"It's comfortable enough."

"Look here, you. Don't even start with that comfortable enough crap." Blue eyes narrow, taking on a playful gleam, and Naruto leans over, trying to expose the rest of Sasuke's face with a sharp tug to the sleeve of Sasuke's dark red pullover. "You don't get to have an opinion. You actually have a thing for unreasonably cramped spaces, so your comfort level doesn't count."

Back pressed against the wall, lifting his head, Sasuke responds with another smile, a subtle quirk of his lips that takes its time in going away. "...what really brought you out here, Naruto?"

"Ah, that. Already told you, didn't I? "Mouth not quite set in a frown, Naruto sits upright, pulling on his earlobe. "I guess it just sort of feels like everybody's been too busy this month. It's been what—almost two weeks since any of us really got together? I haven't even seen that much of Kiba lately. But when Kenji said he was throwing a party at his place, now that midterms are over, I was really looking forward to getting a chance to hang out and let loose, you know."

"It's more your scene, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, but if I wanted to be down there right now, I wouldn't have come all the way up here looking for you." Hand dragging along the top of his thigh, palm curving over his knee, this time Naruto does frown. "Although I think the question I should really ask is, what are you doing out here?"

"Trying to get away from you."

"So you got jokes, huh. I see how it is." Squinting, Naruto scoots closer, indulging in a careless invasion of Sasuke's personal space. Arms hanging over his lap, hands clasped, he leans forward, one leg pressing against both of Sasuke's own. "You can't just decide to get rid of me whenever you feel like it. That's not how it's supposed to go."

Sasuke folds one leg down, right foot tucked behind his left. Away from Naruto, he presses himself further against the wall, putting between them as much distance as he can, creating what little space he still can until their legs no longer touch. "Whether I want to get rid of you or not, I doubt it's even worth the effort to try anymore."

"Sure, sure, that's what you always say. In this case, though, flattery won't work on me."

Tilting his head back, with a sigh, Sasuke closes his eyes, gaze unseeing raised towards the sky.

"You all right?"

Sasuke lets out a soft hum, right arm slack at his side, his other arm pulled around his left knee. There's a faint rustle of fabric, followed by a subtle shift in the air in front of him, Naruto once more moving closer to him, and Sasuke can't help the involuntarily shiver when again Naruto's leg brushes against his knee.

He starts at the feel of hands grabbing his, eyes opened growing the slightest bit wide. "Naru—"

"Almost thought I lost you there for a second."

"What are you doing with my hands?"

"Getting you warm."

Sasuke blinks, slowly letting his other leg fall.

"You don't like being cold, remember." With a firm squeeze, bringing their hands closer to his chest, Naruto grants Sasuke a simple smile. "It makes you all cranky and stuff."

"Stop calling me cranky."

Naruto just laughs. "Does this mean we're back to officially being friends?"

"...you're making things up for your own convenience," Sasuke murmurs, staring at his hands being held in Naruto's own. "I don't like you as much as you seem to think I do."

"But I know you do. Because we go together." Rubbing the outside of Sasuke's hands, Naruto's fingers slide up and down along Sasuke's wrists not covered by his sleeves. "See? The way your hands fit mine, almost like you and me were—"

"If you compare me to pork ramen again, more than just your misplaced pride's going to suffer tonight."

Naruto retaliates with a nearly disarming grin. "You're just jealous of my totally awesome analogy-making skills."

"Because I enjoy being compared to food. Yes, that's exactly why."

"Then how about sticky on ric—"

"No, Naruto."

Sill grinning, Naruto blows air over Sasuke's hands he raises level with his mouth. "You're such a killjoy."

The heat from Naruto's breath sends prickles over Sasuke's fingers, a tingling sensation that causes his knuckles to throb, shoots up his arms to become a flurry of warmth too light this feeling suddenly too tight settling heavily in his chest. It's never bothered him before, Naruto doing these kinds of things that have become so commonplace, this closeness between them nothing out of the ordinary, and yet somehow...

With a sharp inhale, he snatches his hands away.

Naruto leans forward, brow furrowed. "Something wrong?"

"Static, I...it was static."

"Sorry, I—" A light blush colouring his cheeks, glancing down, with two fingers, Naruto begins to tap on his knee. He looks up with a nervous smile, hand stilling on the side of his leg. "I didn't mean to—"

"You didn't," Sasuke blurts out, not too loud but all too sudden, the words hasty and impulsive that take even him by surprise. Quiet, a little self-conscious beneath Naruto's blatant stare, he grapples with a wary resolve, waiting to exhale. "It wasn't you, I mean. When you—I just wasn't expecting it."

"So keeping you from getting cold, doing this, that's okay then, right?" Confusion displaced by a tentative smile, again, Naruto reaches for Sasuke's hands, but this time Sasuke pulls away, hands retreating to his lap and out of Naruto's reach.

"It's not that cold."

"...oh." There's a sort of disappointment layered beneath the words, a minute uncertainty in Naruto's voice that doesn't belong, but he recovers with another smile, another twitch at the corner of his lips alarmingly at ease, with that same annoying persistence so easily taken for granted, because even now, Naruto won't let Sasuke push him away. "Well, yeah, that's because I already got you warmed up. Obviously."

"Hardly."

"Heh. I'm going to remember that the next time you use me as your substitute heater."

Looking down, Sasuke dismisses the mock threat with a light snort, fingers taking hold of Naruto's shoelaces slightly loose he undoes and reties. When Naruto starts to complain about the dangers of being around unfairly demanding people like Sasuke who already have two strikes against them on top of being the excessively fussy personality types, with the bottom of his fist, Sasuke cuffs the inside of Naruto's shoe.

At first Naruto doesn't move, doesn't even flinch, but then he laughs, a low sounding chuckle that soon fades and with it the traces of a blithe smile it doesn't take much for Sasuke to imagine he can see. "...hey."

Hands returning to his lap, Sasuke peers up, straightening the sleeves of the pullover just long enough to fall over the back of his hands. "Mm?"

"I know it probably seems like I unload on you sometimes. Or maybe a lot, I think I should say, but—" Careful fingers reach behind Sasuke's ears, seize the sides of Sasuke's oversized hood and pull it over his head. "If there's something bothering you, whatever it is, if you want to tell me ,it doesn't...I wouldn't mind if you relied on me for those kinds of things."

Sasuke offers a wry smile almost a smirk that barely tugs at the corner of his mouth. "And what makes you think I'd even need to rely on a clumsy guy like you?"

Undeterred, Naruto's doesn't break his gaze. "Because I want you to know that you can."

It seldom fails to catch him unaware, being the focus of that kind of single-minded attention, that kind of resolute deference he doesn't know what to do with despite this friendship with Naruto he still doesn't know why it makes him feel uneasy at the thought of not being able to do without.

Yet as he tries to draw back, Naruto's still there because he hasn't let go, face already so close carried even closer by the small tug from his grip on the thick material of Sasuke's hood, the pads of Naruto's thumbs mere brushes simply near touches that somehow threatens to throw him completely off-kilter so very far away from the purview of his entire world gradually coming apart at the seams.

And he falters.

"Really, Sasuke. I mean it."

There's a quiet pulsation in his chest. It's a hushed sort of anticipation, the constant repetition of this incredibly stupid noise that plays too loud in his ears and only continues to grow louder the more still he makes his body become. Yet for a moment he lets his mind wander, and a very small part of him begins to wonder if Naruto's listening carefully enough to hear it, too, on and on that erratic, unrelenting sound, if that's why he can't quite place the unfamiliar expression in blue eyes—but then he forces himself to stop.

"...you can let go now."

"I guess I should," Naruto whispers.

"You should."

"Yeah. I'm just not sure my hands will let me right now."

"What are you trying to pull, Naruto? Stop playing around. Let go."

"I already told you. My hands, they won't—"

"Why not?"

"...because I think I already forgot how."

"Naruto, you—"

But Naruto's hands are gone. They disappear with the momentary brush of his fingers against Sasuke's cheeks, leaving behind faint traces of a warmth no longer there, as if his hands were never there at all, and he lifts himself up only to settle right back down beside Sasuke.

Laughing like he usually does, plastered on his face a comfortable smile, he stretches out his legs, the toes of his shoes barely touching the wall on the other side of the enclave. "My legs were starting to fall asleep." He raises one foot, flexing his shoe forward then back before setting it on the ground.

Both hands reaching behind his head, lips pursed, Sasuke lowers his hood, the material clutched tight between his fingers adjusting the collar to lie flat against the back of his neck.

"If you don't want to talk to me about that kind of stuff, I get it," Naruto says, heaving a sigh, smile disappeared. "That's fine, too. I'm not—I won't try to push you into something like that. It's just, recently, I've been starting to notice that you do this sort of thing a lot."

Letting go of his hood, slowly, Sasuke feels himself begin to relax. "Do what?"

"The whole—" Naruto makes an offhand gesture with a careless wave of his hand. "Going-off-on-your-own thing. Holed up in a place like this by yourself."

"...it's somewhere quiet to think."

"Is it really?"

Unfolding his left leg he raises, Sasuke props his elbow on his knee, head lowered, fingers loosely curled into his palm resting against his cheek. "Most of the time, I like to think it is."

"It's nice, though. I'll give you that much." Naruto extends his arms above his head. He takes in deep breath in, releasing a heavier exhale, lowering his arms then doing a short series of backwards shoulder rolls. "I can see why you like to come out here. The last time I can even remember doing something close to this was when I was a snot-nosed kid."

He snorts. "Me and my mom and my dad would camp outside, and we used to gamble on rice candy to see who was the fastest at counting the most stars, but on nights like these..."

Shifting against the wall, catching sight of Naruto's watchful gaze, Sasuke turns a little more towards him. "What is it?"

Still for a moment, Naruto blinks, glancing away and licking his lips. "Nothing. It's nothing," he says. "Just wish I'd brought my baby. If I knew I was going to be out here tonight, with this kind of natural lighting, being able to see the moon and the stars so well, I could've have gotten in some really good shots."

"Don't get any ideas. You're not taking any more pictures of me."

"Ch. Who said I'd even want to waste any more of my good film on you?"

Sasuke just gives him a blank stare.

"Don't give me that look. The facial expressions you make, it's your fault I—okay, so maybe I did manage to sneak in a couple more clicks than you wanted me to, but I can't help that it happened to be the right moment at the right time."

"You really expect me to believe that."

"Eh, not unless you grew up around cameras like I did, which you didn't, but after working behind the lens for so long, from that point of view, everything really does feel different.

"It's like, even if you go in having that ideal image in your head, when you might think you know exactly what impression you want to make, it almost always seems to come down to those three or four frames you weren't searching for, and sometimes, with only enough time to think between that one second and the next, your only choice is to either take the shot or lose it."

Naruto raises his hands in his line of sight, creating two L-shapes with his fingers he puts together to form a makeshift square, taking an imaginary photo of the sky. "I mean, when you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of something really amazing, and you get the chance to bring out this certain characteristic that no one else's ever been able to say they've seen before, it's like finding the last great Wonder of the World, so you _have_ to take the shot.

"Because in that one perfect moment, in that one instance you'll never have the chance to see again, even the scenery starts to look different. The people start to look different."

Tongue pressed against the corner of his mouth, squinting with one eye open, he toggles with the simulated viewfinder to capture a frame of Sasuke's face. "You look—"

"I look the same," Sasuke says, pushing away Naruto's hands.

"Just hear me out for a sec. Wanting you to be the subject for my side projects, think of it like being a stepping stone for me. Let's say, what if one day I decided I wanted to go into photojournalism, working for a world famous magazine or something? Except I got turned away in the middle of the job interview because I didn't have enough qualifying experience with isolated close-up shots since you willingly chose not to be helpful during my time of need, so I'd just end up being forced to accept a life-threatening position on the night shift at some shady yakuza sponsored establishment?

"And whose responsibility would it be then, huh?"

Sasuke gives him a strange look. "How are you even—what part of that is actually supposed to make any—" Shutting his mouth, he breathes through his nose, refusing to let himself further attempt to understand Naruto's haphazard logic. It's a given he should know better not to even bother by now. "I thought one of your term projects for independent study was on cloudscapes?"

"It is. But you know I can't do that forever. I have to branch out as much as I can. As soon as I can. And not just because it's required for my core curriculum."

"I'm still not going to be your guinea pig."

"In this situation, muse sounds a lot better, don't you think?"

"I'm assuming you want me to find a ledge to push you off."

"Later, we can do all that later, all right, but for now, just so you know, one of my idols, Stieglitz, his muse did paintings, too. Not ink wash paintings like you, or even calligraphy, of course, and it might be an extremely fitting coincidence, sure, but they worked out pretty okay. For the most part. I think."

"If quiet places inspire that kind of thinking, maybe this isn't the right environment for you."

Naruto sucks his teeth. "Anyway, for your information, those photos you let me take to help me with that sketch assignment for Genma's class, because of all the thinking I put into it, I got an A. So _there_."

"What'd you expect? It's basically a pass or fail class. That's not a real grade. Not to mention, Genma's too lenient. He's going to judge you much more on the effort that goes into completing an assignment rather than your intrinsic lack of artistic ability to even draw recognisable stick figures, much less expect you to take the time to at least pretend to make your name look legible."

"...really, Sasuke? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Last time I share any of my accomplishments with you," Naruto mumbles. "Is there something special about me that just brings out the best in you, or has putting people down always been your idea of fun?"

"Only with you it is."

"Oh?" A smile is slow to appear on Naruto's face. He watches Sasuke with eager eyes far too bright, shuffling closer, wearing the near impossible kind of grin exceedingly pleased teetering on the verge of being unbearable. "So hanging out with me, that's your idea of fun, is it?"

Sasuke snorts, dropping his forehead on Naruto's shoulder, but the he lifts his head, sharing with Naruto the slightest hint of a smile that sets in motion a quiet laugh managing to slip through closed lips. "You're getting ahead of yourself."

"Is this supposed to be your way of getting back at me for something I don't even remember doing?"

"Dragging me all over Nakano to window shop for high-end camera lenses you'd need a loan to afford."

"Hold on, hold on, didn't I show you that little area with all those really neat art supply shops you took forever in? And didn't I end paying for lunch? _Again_."

"After being squished next to you on a crowded train, it was the least you could do."

"The least I could—" With a dry snort, Naruto elbows Sasuke in the side. "Not that it bothers me that you've made a hobby out of making fun of me, because you'd probably still do it even if it did—"

"Probably."

"—especially since you're already so quick to agree with me, anyway, but even though you have this extremely bad habit of making yourself happy at my expense, sometimes, I really wish I knew how to..." Trailing off, Naruto pauses, brows knit, eyes slightly narrowed faraway lost in thought.

"There's this part of me that wants to think it's okay, that every time you give me a chance to see you sm— " Glancing to the side, he laughs, fingers running through his hair.

"...Naruto?"

"It's just funny, you know," Naruto says, turning back to Sasuke with an idle smile much slower to come. "The way some things happen to work out." He gives a slight shake of his head. "Mostly what it does to me every time you smash what's left of my pride."

"I wouldn't if you didn't keep setting yourself up for it." Left knee raised, Sasuke extends his other leg in front of him, letting his white right shoe fall against Naruto's left blue one. "But it'd take me the rest of my life to even begin to put a dent in that thing you try to call pride."

"Look who's talking. A stuck-up guy who comes across like he knows everything doesn't have room to say anything."

"Because I think it's fun to mess with you?"

"For someone who seems so smart, you can be pretty aggravating, you know that." Around a smile, Naruto lets out a light scoff that quickly becomes a soft chuckle. "But yeah. Something like that, I guess—yeah."

Left knee brought a little closer to his chest, arms crossed around his leg leaned towards his right, Sasuke hums, letting his head fall against Naruto's shoulder.

"So, uh..." Naruto clears his throat. "You plan on staying out here much longer?"

"Just a little while. Not much, though. It's not even eight yet. Early enough that I still have time to go back."

"To the party?"

"Kenji wanted me to come, so I'm not trying to avoid it. I don't want him to think I'm trying to avoid him right before he leaves."

"That's right. He decided he's graduating early, didn't he?"

"A design firm in London offered him an internship. Paid."

"A paid architecture internship? Wow."

"Yeah, I know." Sasuke manages a little smile. "He's already started looking into post-grad schools, too. There're a lot of good MBA programmes over there."

"Jeeze, graduation for us is still two years off, but it might as well be tomorrow the way Kenji's going. It still feels like I just met him yesterday."

"It's something he's wanted for a long time, though. And I'm happy for him, to have that kind of opportunity. But despite the fact I knew it was coming, when he told me about being accepted back in August, it's just—I guess I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"So that's why you're..."

Intermittent pockets of light illuminate the rooftop of the building across from them, cutting through the broad expanse of shadowed grey, and Sasuke follows the light tapering in the distance, gaze drifting towards the stretch of darkness without any stars in the sky.

"...you don't need to wait for me, Naruto."

"Somehow, I feel like you're trying to get rid of me again."

"Is it working?"

"Aren't you the one who said it's pointless to even try anymore?"

"Most of the time it is. But you don't have to force yourself to stay for my sake."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I don't," Naruto whispers. "Except I think you're forgetting something."

"Am I?"

"...just because I don't have to stay, Sasuke, doesn't mean I don't want to."


	31. What I Still Haven't Found

Rated M for language and somewhat crude humour on Kiba's part.

This is the incident Naruto mentions in It's Alright (ch. 24), teasing Sasuke for being a lightweight. It turned into this very unrealistic scene where Kiba and Shikamaru find out that Naruto likes Sasuke. Just an excuse to have Kiba and Shikamaru dog the crap out of Naruto, actually. Because I really like these three together. Got too long, sure, but it's a personal pick-me-up (no pun intended) kind of thing.

**Laina7:** Thank you. ^^

...

_"No, the guy just threatened to de-man me. With a plastic spoon."_

...

**What I Still Haven't Found**

It's already late, nearly midnight, which is even later considering Naruto still has a shitload of homework due the day after tomorrow, so they decide to end their sort of guys' night out at the poky little underground bar that everyone at Tama has to pop by at least _twice_ before graduating.

Practically a rite of passage, going there just to get completely trashed on the ridiculously strong whisky (rumoured to be the strongest brand in the Kanto region, offered semi-illegally, anyway), has been part of Hachiouji campus tradition since anyone can remember.

There's supposedly a history there, though. Not that anyone actually seems to know what that history is, where it came from, or even what makes people so gung-ho about keeping up the practice of getting absolutely shitfaced for fun, but it's been done long enough that even some of the faculty get involved every once in a while.

But after the leaving the bar, running on varying levels of comfortably buzzed, one considerably more smashed than the rest of them, they split up. Chouji goes with Kenji and Sho in one direction. The three of them left—four, including a freeloading Sasuke—go in the other.

"I feel like this is a very serious situation you guys just aren't taking seriously right now."

Or maybe it really will be just the three of them if Kiba doesn't stop running his mouth complaining on and on about what almost didn't happen to him.

If Naruto didn't have to take care of a certain someone, then maybe he wouldn't be thinking about resorting to drastic measures just to get Kiba to shut up.

"Shut up about it already," Shikamaru says, a slight annoyance coming through his voice. Arm raised, elbow level with his hand, he scratches behind his ear with a finger. "Swaying as much as you are, shouldn't you be too drunk to talk? Or even walk for that matter?"

"Being put through a severely near traumatic experience like that, you tend to sober up real qui—"

Suddenly, Kiba stops, only a few steps away from walking headfirst straight into a utility pole. Eyebrows bunched closer together, he stares at the pole for a quick second before his expression unexpectedly becomes thoughtful.

Thinking way too hard, entirely way too hard for this set of circumstances, he turns his head from side to side, looking both ways on the sidewalk. He starts to sway a little on his feet for a moment, but then he finally decides to just go around the pole, barely squeezing between a thin little tree and the large anti-littering sign encouraging passersby not to toss their trash in the city's blind spots after turning the corner.

Somewhere along the line, though, eventually, Kiba does manage to find his place again walking along Naruto's left side. "But at least I'm not so drunk that I need to hitch a ride."

From Naruto's other side, Shikamaru snorts.

"And here I thought he was going to be the one to drink us all under the table." Hands raised clasped behind his head, Kiba spares a wary glance at Sasuke. "No, the guy just threatened to _de-man_ me. With a plastic spoon."

"My plastic spoon," Shikamaru says, like reminding them whose spoon it was really makes that much of a difference.

Accordingly, Kiba gives him the finger.

"Get over yourself." Naruto grunts, bending his elbows some more to accommodate for the weight on his back. Long arms hooked underneath Sasuke's knees, he hikes Sasuke a little further up, careful not to let his head bump against Sasuke's face. "I warned you, didn't I? Drunk or not, you shouldn't have called him that. Period."

Kiba sniffs, turning up his nose. "I thought he was going to be a boring drunk."

"And look where that got you," Shikamaru says.

Pretending not to hear Shikamaru, Kiba sends an unconvincing sort of not quite there half-glare Naruto's way. "Besides, you're the one who even started calling him that. Thanks to your regular complaining, that's the only name I knew Sasuke by for the longest time, so if anything, it's your fault if I end up slipping every now and then."

"First of all," Naruto says, "it's not exactly a secret that Sasuke doesn't like being called Himiko-bastard. Considering he doesn't even let _me_ get away with it, you need some serious help in your life if you ever thought he was going to let _you_. More importantly, though, it's not the same when you take the bastard out. Even I knew better than to mess with the bastard part of it. But that's what you did."

"And your point is? The guy tried to convince me, _too politely_, that I'd be better off not having to worry about ever being able to get it up again, remember?"

"Only because you wouldn't stop teasing him about a name you know he doesn't like to be called," Shikamaru says.

"Don't you dare try to confuse me with logic while I'm in this state of mind."

Shikamaru yields with a small smile, offering his hands in a show of mock surrender.

"And even if I was teasing him a little," Kiba says, "only a little, still. You don't just go around making fun of the sacred bond between a guy and his dog, man. It's not cool."

"You do if the guy is an alleged ladies' man who claims to have the image appeal of an irredeemable bad boy despite the fact that his long distance relationship with his dog is still the most meaningful relationship he's ever had."

"Fuck off, Nara." Dropping his arms, Kiba sports a broad smile that echoes the corners of Shikamaru's mouth edging into a grin.

"It actually was pretty funny."

"The way Sasuke said it," Naruto adds, with a cheeky grin of his own, "yeah, it really was. But when he started whispering, and you started squeaking, when your voice got real high after he grabbed the spoon, I could've sworn my ears were getting ready to—"

"You know what? Don't even quit while you're ahead. You two keep right on making up all kinds of crap," Kiba says, still smiling, quickly cutting in front of Naruto to walk beside Shikamaru. "But we all know you're just mad because your lazy ass couldn't even begin to _dream_ of coming close to scoring the sheer amount of tail I do."

"And yet somehow, I still get more than you've ever had."

"Like it's even possible for me to get stuck in the middle of a dry spell. That'd just be inhumane." Kiba scoffs. "Although for you, I guess all the girls finally found out you're the useless kind of guy who'd lie back and make them do all the work."

Shikamaru lets out an amused snort, reaching into his back pocket to pull out a pack of gum.

"For a guy who likes to gloat as much as you do, your so-called reputation precedes you," he says, opening a single stick of gum and popping it in his mouth. "Greatly."

"Heh. I bet even a total sap like Naruto manages to get more action than you. Or at least he probably would be tapping something other than that right hand of his if he wasn't so busy spending all his free time with Sasuke."

"Don't even try me, Kiba," Naruto says. "The most action you're even lucky enough to get is watching a girl run away screaming after she finds out you're all shrivelled up down there."

The pack of gum back in his pocket, Shikamaru covers his mouth with his hand, but it doesn't do a thing to stop the slosh of poorly suppressed laughter that comes through.

"Oh, yeah, well...well, you can fuck off, too, Uzumaki." Recovering from his own unrepressed fit of laughter, Kiba makes another rude gesture with his finger, this time pointing it towards Naruto. "All this proves is that you really do spend too much time with Sasuke."

Naruto makes a low noise in agreement, giving Kiba a slow nod. "Then again, anything beats having to deal so much with you. It feels like I see you at least seven days a week. And then some."

"Tch. Shows what you know. If anything, there's not enough of me to go around." Kiba thumps his chest with one hand, palm pressed flat against the zipper of his green jacket. "Who wouldn't want a piece of me?"

Still chewing on his gum, Shikamaru pushes it from one side of his mouth to the other. "Isn't that what Sasuke was doing earlier? Trying to get a piece of you?"

"Okay, since when did you decide to turn into such a smartass?"

Shikamaru shrugs. "It seems to help pass the time."

Naruto snorts, stepping onto the wide, paved trail leading them to the entrance of a small little park. It's the empty kind of open space Sasuke likes to visit from time to time, this park marking the halfway point to their apartment building, but it's only one of many scattered throughout the city. "You didn't actually think he'd do that to you, did you?"

"Nah, I know him better that," Kiba says. "He's normally a real nice guy. When it comes to people who aren't you, anyway. Pretty much everyone except you, Naruto. But I mean, hey, I like Sasuke and all. Just not up close and personal enough to give him a free ride on my back."

"What—you seriously expected me to just leave him there passed out on the table?"

"I don't see why not. And if it was you that piss drunk instead of Sasuke, I definitely wouldn't be going the distance."

"So you'd just leave me there?"

"In a heartbeat."

"See, Kiba. This is why people like me and you can't be friends."

Kiba laughs, briefly veering off the cemented pathway, taking the long way around a wooden bench before returning back to Shikamaru's side. "I don't see what you're getting so hung up about. It's not like anyone forced the responsibility on you."

"The rest of you guys didn't give me a choice," Naruto says, leaning in front of Shikamaru a little to give Kiba a wry stare.

"You're the one who told us to stop trying to wake Sasuke up," Shikamaru is oh so very unhelpful to point out.

"Because it was obvious he wasn't going to," Naruto sputters, unconsciously tightening his grip supporting Sasuke's legs around his waist. "And I sure as hell wasn't going to sit there all night waiting for him to sleep it off. Meaning _somebody_ had to take care of him."

"As long as you knew to count me out." With both hands, Kiba flips up the collar of his jacket and then folds it back over.

"Never even bothered to count you in," Naruto mutters.

Kiba grins, lowering his arms. "Either way, that's what Sasuke has a friend like you for, right."

Eyes slightly narrowed, Naruto ducks his gaze, stepping over colourful leaves fallen from the trees bordering the edges of the path. A thoughtful frown pulls down at the corner of his mouth, and he looks up, staring straight ahead. "...I guess it is."

"I take it Sasuke's crashing with us then," Shikamaru says around a deliberate little smile, reaching in his pocket for another stick of gum.

"Only because our place is a lot closer than his." Naruto blinks, glancing at Shikamaru. "You don't mind, do you? I mean, not to throw it all on you so suddenly like this. I have another futon Sasuke can use, and I'll make space for him in my room, so you don't have to worry about that, but if you're not—"

"Doesn't bother me in particular." Shikamaru offers a casual shrug. "He's always been nice enough to me." Near a small, nondescript garbage bin, he pauses to throw away the gum wrappers crumpled in his palm, setting his gaze on a dead to the world Sasuke relaxed against Naruto's back. "You should be more worried about yourself. Sasuke may be completely out of it now, but you're the one he's going to turn to when he wakes up."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Naruto breathes out with an exaggerated sigh, again lifting his arms to shift Sasuke's weight when Sasuke starts to lean too far to the side. "So unfair."

Gesturing towards Shikamaru's pocket, Kiba tries to bum a stick of gum. "You shouldn't pretend to look so put out, Naruto," he says, accepting his gum with a smile when Shikamaru rolls his eyes at him. "That's just how these things go, isn't it. Not like you don't know what to expect from Himi—"

"Stop calling him that, Kiba. Seriously."

"No need to make a big deal out of it. The guy can't even hear me."

"Look, I don't care if he can hear you or not. You already know Sasuke doesn't like it, so you don't need for me to tell you not to call him that anymore, all right."

"Oi, Naruto. What's up with this change in attitude all of a sudden? You know I'm just being—"

"Why?" Cutting Kiba off, in the middle of the path Shikamaru comes to a stop, letting himself fall behind a few steps until Naruto and Kiba take notice.

Kiba following beside him, Naruto turns around, walking back towards Shikamaru. "Why what?"

"Why are you suddenly making such a big deal out of a name you used to call Sasuke all the time?"

"Uh, because he doesn't like it," Naruto says, both eyebrows raised. "Whatever you're trying to get at here, I'm not following."

"But since he's not even awake to care, is it really a matter of him not liking it, or more so that you don't like anyone else calling Sasuke the name you gave him?"

Caught off guard by the suddenness of the question he doesn't know how to answer, Naruto doesn't speak, for a second or two doesn't breathe.

He doesn't move a muscle.

"...you like him, don't you?"

"Picking now of all times to act so weird, Shikamaru," Kiba says. "Asking that sort of obvious question, what rock have you been living under for the past two years?"

"Y-yeah, what Kiba just said." Naruto gives a shaky laugh, trying to brush off Shikamaru's calculating stare. "Of course I like Sasuke. He's practically my best friend. I wouldn't be dragging him all the way back to our place if I didn't like him."

Unfortunately, despite Shikamaru's self-declared laziness, he's not as unobservant as most people immediately tend to write him off to be. It figures someone like him would be one of those too curious annoyingly perceptive kinds of drunks.

Still staring, he gives a slight shake of his head. "No, Naruto. I mean, you actually _like_ him."

Frowning, Kiba glances between Shikamaru and Naruto, but the confusion on his face is quickly replaced by surprise, and he makes a garbled sort of choking sound, eyes growing increasingly wide. "You mean like one of those onetime guy crushes or something?"

Without another word, without a second thought, Naruto turns around and promptly walks himself out of the conversation. As fast as he can, as far as he can go until he's sure Shikamaru and Kiba will forget about having brought it up in the first place.

Except it's hard to get very far away anywhere near fast enough while he's still carrying Sasuke on his back and trying not to wake him up.

He doesn't even make it to the lamppost near the park's exit before Kiba and Shikamaru catch up to him.

"It was only a question, Naruto." The worst kind of knowingly amused smile starts to play on Shikamaru's lips. "Getting so worked up over one guy, you could've easily just said no."

"Maybe not," Kiba says slowly, from Shikamaru's other side giving Naruto a somewhat sympathetic look. "Someone with your faulty, depressingly dried up track record, you probably haven't even told Sasuke yet, have you?"

Naruto clenches his jaw. "I don't know what you guys are talking about."

"Well, whatever you don't know what we're talking about, you're still carrying him on your back, you know."

"Me and Sasuke, we're not—it's not...it's not like that between us, okay."

Ignoring Naruto's protest, Kiba turns to Shikamaru. "Looking back at all the signs, now that I can see Naruto's sad attempts at flirting for what they really are, the whole thing kind of comes across like some plot from a chick manga, don't you think?"

"And what would you know about that kind of manga?" Shikamaru says.

"Study material I read up on during middle school. Back then, my sister used to make me pick up the ones she liked on my way home. That's when I first found out about what a lot of girls think they want in a guy." Kiba wriggles his eyebrows. "Had to get my start somewhere, you know."

Shikamaru snorts. "Again with the playboy character."

"Although going for a domineering guy like Sasuke," Kiba says, leering at Naruto, "I wouldn't have pictured you for being into the S&M scene."

Imagination getting the best of him, planting all kinds of too highly suggestive and far too realistic images he hasn't even had the chance to prepare himself to think about, Naruto feels his entire face start to burn red.

It just burns. Completely burns with a red he can actually _feel_, spreading from his face to light up the rest of his body, but while he might not be on the verge of bursting into flames, it doesn't necessarily rule out the impossible risk of his skin being permanently stained.

And then Kiba starts running off his mouth again, putting even more things in Naruto's head that he's trying really, really hard not to put too much thought into maybe possibly being able to have the chance to do with Sasuke some day in the future, because in the right here and now, he's still carrying Sasuke on his back.

"—ask him out, it'll be like doing two things at once. So then you can keep spending too much time with Sasuke, but instead of having to depend on all those nightly solo acts to get off, you can finally start looking forward to the real kind of repeat performa—"

"_You fucking asswipe_, _shut the hell up before Sasuke hears you_."

Like seeing Naruto so thoroughly embarrassed is simply the funniest thing in the world, Kiba just beams. "Of all people, you want to go chasing after Sasuke. I can't believe you're trying to—shit, man, you're blushing like a little kid. You're totally _blushing_."

"I already said it's not like that between us, didn't I. And I'm not blushing. It's the alcohol."

"Yeah, right. You didn't even drink that much. And no way with that freaky high metabolism thing you got going on, but this isn't some onetime guy crush. You like Sasuke. You really do like him."

"Okay, yeah, well, maybe I kind of sort really like Sasuke more than I probably should like another guy—so what? Liking Sasuke that way, it just happened to happen. You got a problem with that or something?"

"Aw, look, he's even getting all defensive about it." Kiba throws an ear-splitting grin at Shikamaru. "Our wittle Naruto has a crush on his favourite little Himiko-bastard."

"_You_." Completely bypassing a smiling Shikamaru, Naruto aims his glare directly at Kiba. "I already told you not to call Sasuke that anymore. I'm not telling you again."

Making a fist to cover his mouth, clearing his throat, Kiba imitates his best professional sounding voice. "After further testing the data, Dr. Nara, based on the patient's symptoms, I've concluded that Mr. Uzumaki is suffering from a typical case of oversensitive boyfriend type behaviour."

Shikamaru makes a low noise in agreement, paired with a firm nod. "Yes, yes, Dr. Inuzuka, that does seem to be the true nature of his present condition," he says, eyes bright, barely able to keep a straight face. "Although Mr. Uzumaki's responses can still be considered part of the initial denial stage, won't you agree?"

"Yeah, that's right," Naruto grumbles, repositioning Sasuke's arm slung over his chest. "It's all fun and games now, but you two better be glad I'm carrying Sasuke, because that's the only thing preventing me from running both your asses into the ground."

"With some of the weird stares you're starting to attract," Kiba says, "maybe we shouldn't be standing so close to an untrustworthy looking guy who might try to do questionable things to Sasuke."

"The hell are you even trying to—"

"You think Naruto's moving too fast with this?" Shikamaru shares a thoughtful glance with Kiba, one that turns into a look of mutual understanding. "Unless slow for the rest of us should be considered too fast for him."

"How fast are these kinds of things even supposed to happen?" Kiba muses, putting on airs. "For Naruto, even someone with my experience doesn't know. But I mean, coming up with that kind of sham date, bringing your boyfriend to a bar with the clear intention of taking him back home drunk," he says, "that sounds pretty questionable to me."

"Just because Sasuke's too nice to actually hurt you, Kiba, don't you start thinking I won't."

"Will you, though?" Shikamaru says. "After all, deliberately causing a scene in public, Sasuke wouldn't appreciate being part of that, would he?"

Kiba snickers, hand placed over the side of his mouth as he turns towards Shikamaru. "Hey, hey," he says, in a supposed whisper that effectively becomes a very loud non-whisper, "if Naruto's face gets any redder, do you think it'll eventually make his hair turn orange?"

With a series of patchy snorts, shoulders shaking, Shikamaru just about loses it.

"No, no, seriously, just look at him—look at him." Too eager, no more than a downright giggling mess, Kiba points a finger at Naruto. "He's so red that he's actually glowing in the dar—quick, w-walk ahead of us, Rudolph, so we won't accidentally get lost crossing the street."

Evading Kiba's hand shooing him forward, Naruto looks both ways before crossing the narrow street, pointedly ignoring the noisy laughter trailing behind him. "If Sasuke wakes up because you keep going on like this..."

"Between you and Kiba," Shikamaru says, last one to reach the curb leading up to their block, "if Sasuke hasn't woken up by now, chances are he won't be waking up any time soon."

"Good thing your boyfriend's such a lightweight, huh. This way he doesn't actually have to know the guy he doesn't even know he's going out with is thinking unpure thoughts about him."

"...I am this close to beating the shit out of you, Kiba. By the end of the night, I swear I am going to beat the shit out of you, Kiba, so you better shut your mouth now before I decide to dropkick your irritating way too—"

At the sound of a quiet groan from behind him, Naruto freezes. Time stills. Even the air around him seems to know not to make any sudden movements.

A few steps ahead of him, Kiba and Shikamaru stop just short of making it to the door of their building, both of them watching him very closely, caught up in the sudden suspense, but Naruto's already more than aware of the weight shifting against his back.

One arm hanging at Naruto's side, the other draped loose around Naruto's neck, Sasuke moves his head a little. His hand clutches the front of Naruto's jacket, cheek brushing against blond hair, and he lets out this soft sort of comfortable sigh, fingers slowly releasing their hold.

"...now that's just precious."

Naruto feels the burn come back with a vengeance.

"I can't decide what's worse. Seeing how tight Sasuke's got you wound up around his finger, or watching you keep tripping up over this guy when he doesn't even know it."

"Shut. Up, Kiba."

Shaking his head, Shikamaru smiles, too highly amused as reaches for the door handle. He hauls open the heavy door to the stairwell, setting off a long creaking noise, rusting hinges sliding against each other to create an almost cringeworthy sound. Holding the door open with his foot, he lets Naruto and Kiba go through first. "I knew Sasuke was going to be trouble."

"Can you guys seriously just not be assholes about it?"

"Now that he's focusing so much attention on his Himiko-bastard," Kiba says, "do you think this means Naruto's going to replace us?"

Slowly removing his foot, Shikamaru makes sure the door doesn't slam behind him. "It'd be too inconvenient to replace a roommate on such short notice."

"True, true." Passing Naruto, Kiba takes two steps at a time, all the way up to the fourth floor. "What about me, though? Being the big brother type figure in his life, shouldn't there be some kind of value in that?"

"Won't find me complaining if there's not."

"Whenever you're not taking over my stuff, or eating my food and getting crumbs all over the place," Naruto mutters, carefully making his way up the stairs, "you're always leaving some kind of mess—why the hell would I put any value in that?"

"Because this is me giving up my time for you," Kiba says. "This is me being a good friend."

Naruto grunts as he crosses over the last step to reach their floor, frowning when he's met face to face with a grinning Kiba standing between him and the door. "How does barging into other people's places uninvited make you a good friend?"

"The way you're taking advantage of Sasuke, looking after him like the concerned boyfriend he doesn't know you're trying too hard to be, if all your dates are going to turn out this bad, somebody has to be the chaperone."

A smiling Shikamaru appears beside him, joining in with Kiba nearly bubbling over with a giddy laughter that only seems to get worse when Naruto offers up a feeble glare. "...just open the door."


End file.
